The Unsuspected Love Bite
by grizzlebear
Summary: SasuSaku, AU - I was supposed to fall in love with her best friend, not for the geek-turned-goddess. But it's all good, because I know she loves me back...
1. I am not a Robot

Disclaimer: psch, your a fool.

_Love Bite_

_Chapter 1_

_You don't always have to be on top  
Better to be hated, then lovedlovedloved for what you're not..._

_-Marina & The Diamonds_

* * *

Sakura lay wide awake on her bed, looking up at the bland white ceilings. Today was the start of another school year with the crisp new color rimmed on her school uniform, which consisted of a mid-thigh white skirt and a simple polo. The new color for second years was a deep blue, almost navy.

She depressingly sighed as she flicked her duvet covers off her to calmly get ready; showering, brushing her teeth and the usual morning routines. She swept her light pink hair into a loose bun, with tendrils framing her dainty face and strands slipping out of the scrunchie. She sighed yet again, and picked up a pair of tortoise shell, larger-than-life vanity glasses – the ones without a prescription lens. Sakura inspected them thoughtfully, before murmuring, "Here's to another year geeking around. All work and no play makes Sakura a very successful business woman in the future."

Yes, Sakura was classed as a geek, a nerd, a freak – whatever you want to call her – at a school with too many cliques to count with your fingers, toes and your brain cells. But, the real facts lay beneath it all. Sakura was an only-child with parents who were entrusting her to create a good reputation to the Haruno name, as well as expecting her to achieve top grades to move on to a top college to be employed in a top workplace. They wanted her to be the top of the top, resulting in her parents pressuring her to do work 24/7. She was either in school, at home or at one of the many clubs she was forced to join. Her schedule must have been full to the brim with student council meetings, badminton practices and extracurricular French and Chinese classes. There was no limit to Sakura's brain power, and at the moment, she was learning to write in hieroglyphics.

But, in fact Sakura hated the whole thing. She despised all the work and the unadulterated effort she put into every single minute of her life. In her sleep she was dreaming of a triglyceride molecular structure and of Pythagoras theorem. The cogs in her brain would never stop working, and her parents would never allow for that to happen either. And if that time comes, she feared that her parents would have a mental breakdown. They had been saving money their entire life for her school funds and all the books she had read at least 4 times. She knew every line of Pride and Prejudice by heart. It would break her parents' hearts if she failed her education or didn't get the top-notch job they had wished she would get. The guilt that would consume her would be just too overbearing.

She thought reading chemistry text books in her spare time was _fun_. At least that's what her parents made her believe from before she had even left her mother's womb. She had seen the way the popular kids would go out on a Friday night and get drunk at each other's houses and stagger down the street to meet more friends. She had seen the secret communication of texting below desks in classes and how they would constantly get themselves into trouble. They wore their uniforms in a less-than-appropriate way. The boys had the scruffy shirts and their trousers literally hanging at their thighs. The girls had their cleavage sticking out and their skirts almost nonexistent. Their hair was always perfect and rain was as much as a phobia as the reality of e=mc squared.

She put the glasses on gently and ran her slender fingers through her sweeping fringe. If she was wearing glasses which she didn't actually need why do it at all? Her parents also believed that Sakura was too pretty for her own good, despite the pink hair. Her eyes were large and filled with constantly brimming emotions, her lips were perfectly pouty, her skin unblemished, her hair (when down and out of the messy bun she wore daily) was waist-length and worthy of envy from all the girls in school, and she was a naturally charming sweet-talker – only when her temper wasn't getting the best of her. That was why her parents were determined to make Sakura as unattractive as possible, to not attract the attention of the popular clique or 'time-wasting boys'.

The thing was Sakura had already been best friends with Ino Yamanaka since they were kid babies. Their parents were college friends, until Ino's parents split, leading to Ino rebelling against the same treatment Sakura was experiencing. She was naturally beautiful which lead to her popularity in school sky-rocketing. She had hoards of friends, but the strange thing in this case is the fact that Ino still talked to Sakura, despite the damage it could do to her reputation. In every other case, Ino would have abandoned Sakura and never talk to her again, but Ino wasn't like that. Her friends just thought of Sakura as no one particularly important, therefore they ignored her completely, leaving Ino able to talk to Sakura – just not as confrontational as talking in corridors. It was more of a weekend sleepover type of relationship.

Sakura trudged down the stairs and hurried out of her house. It was half six in the morning, and her parents were still asleep but she was extremely stressed from only getting 3 hours sleep last night, as she was getting ready for her new school year. The sun was just rising as Sakura pulled up her shoulder tote strap. She arrived at the coffeehouse just as they flipped the 'closed' sign to 'open', as she walked in stoically and waved to the greeting workers.

"I'll have a vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin, please," she ordered, quickly adding, "to eat in." She needed a sugar and a caffeine boost at the same time, NOW.

When her order was ready, she took a seat in the far corner of the café, and pulled out a book. She flipped it open to her bookmarked page and began calmly reading, whilst occasionally picking crumbs off her muffin or taking small sips from her latte.

"No, no, no, a strawberries and cream frappuccino is definitely better than the vanilla cream! Get it right, Teme. Vanilla's just bore-_ring_!"

Sakura whipped her head out of her book and stared agape at the new customers walking through the Starbuck's door.

'Ohgod,' she thought, 'it's Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.'

She didn't have a personal grudge against them or anything, but her nerves were grated the wrong way when she heard them speak shamelessly about sex and drugs in public.

She hurriedly dug her nose further into her book and tried concentrating on the words furiously, attempting (in vain) to block out whoever's pants they got into last night.

They ordered and sat down a few tables away from Sakura, and unsurprisingly started to talk about girls.

"She's a feisty one, Naruto, don't even GO there," he winked suggestively, as Naruto plastered a huge grin on his face.

"That's old news, Sasuke-teme. Been there, done that," and this time it was Naruto's turn to indicatively wink.

Sakura inaudibly scoffed, but what she had assumed was a gesture she was sure the two boys wouldn't hear, was actually quite the opposite.

Sasuke nudged Naruto in the elbow, and pointed subtly at where Sakura was now blushing furiously and inwardly kicking herself, whilst covering her face with her book.

"Doesn't she go to our school? She has our uniform on," Sasuke asked curiously. He inspected her form, and noticed she had a worthy figure – just not AS great as some of the other girl's he had seen. However, her face was shrouded by her book cover; Pride & Prejudice, he noted. He wasn't a fan of Jane Austen and he hated reading, but if she was cool with classic literature, good for her.

"Haven't you seen, Sasuke? She's the pink-haired girl that talks to Ino all the time. Apparently there's some rumor going round that she's a begging tramp that keeps asking Ino for money because of how their parents were old friends."

Sakura scrunched up her nose when she heard the low whispers of Naruto. _'"Begging tramp"? How _dare_ he?'_

Sasuke raised his eyebrows surreptitiously. Now he remembered. Ino had always brushed away every rumor that had formed around their relationship. The pink-haired girl, Sakura, he thought her name was, was also known as one of the school's most genius – therefore, a geek. She was a geek, and Ino was an all-star goddess. It didn't make sense, but Sasuke brushed his doubts away as he suddenly formed a plan.

He purposely raised his voice as he said, "Ino's a real piece of meat, eh, Naruto? She's got curves in ALL the right places," he used his hands to exaggerate his point and continued, "I'd love to see her bend o-"

'_THAT'S IT!' _Sakura screamed in her head, which surprisingly didn't come out her mouth. She forced her hard-back book into her tote, seething inwardly, and stormed out of the coffeehouse, leaving a half-eaten blueberry muffin and an almost-full cup of latte in her wake.

"Eh?" Naruto obliviously remarked, as he stared wide-eyed at the slamming door and the smug face of Sasuke. "What was her problem?"

Sasuke grinned sadistically, before replying, "The Sakura girl wouldn't have cared so much if it was any other girl I was talking about, but as I was talking about her best friend…" Sasuke trailed off to give time for Naruto to think.

"Eh? I don't get it, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed and decided to just use the most basic ways of communication with his thick-headed best friend. "Sakura is Ino's best friend, and vice versa, idiot."

"…Whoa!" he proudly remarked. "That's a bit messed up. They're complete opposites, and, you know, Sakura's a bit… ew."

Sasuke cringed at his muscular blonde-haired companion exclaiming a word like 'ew' in such a context… or any context.

Naruto grinned sheepishly before further saying, "…But why annoy Sakura? Sasuke…" he lowered his voice accusingly, "you're not up to something, are you?

In reply, Sasuke simply smiled enigmatically and murmured, "Sakura's a book-worm – she should know more than enough information on her BFF to help me catch my newest prey."

"Your newest prey, Sasuke?"

"The BFF herself, Ino Yamanaka."

* * *

_Heeks_, lit. Hot geeks._ Cambridge is full of them..._

_Review, s'il vous plait?_


	2. Zero

**_The Love Bite._**

**_Chapter 2._**

_You're zero_  
_What's your name?_  
_No one's gonna ask you_  
_Better find out where they want you to go..._

_-Yeah Yeah Yeahs_

_

* * *

_

Sakura was panting by the time she had arrived at school. She was about 20 minutes early, but at least she had time to check the notice boards about what class she was being put into and who she would have classes with.

Her school, simply called 'Konoha High', had a basic system – everyone would stay in the same room and the same seats, and the teachers would rotate round each classroom to teach their alleged subject.

She spotted her name amongst a sea of other familiar, but not _friendly_ familiar, names. She memorized her room (2-E) and dragged her finger down the other names. Not spotting Ino amongst her classmates, she frowned, only to frown harder when she saw the name of Sasuke Uchiha near the end of the list.

Yes, she was still angry at his earlier comments at Starbucks. How could he talk about her best friend in such a demeaning way? He talked about Ino like she was just something to throw away after using._ 'What a jerk!' _she harshly thought. She dug her nails into her palms, clenching her shaking hands. However, she was reassured by the fact that she most definitely KNEW that Ino was still a virgin, despite her looks and her figure, and wanted to remain that way till she found the perfect guy. That's why she played the 'hard-to-get' game and teased her boys constantly and stayed single for as long as possible.

She unclenched her hands, but instead stamped her feet, frustratingly, before heading towards her new classroom. She would just ignore Sasuke for the whole year and stick it up.

She arrived at her new classroom, and lay her tote down on the individual table. There was no seating plan at the start of a new year (everyone would sit where they wanted, but that was their seat for the rest of the year – first come, first serve), so Sakura sat at the far back, with dibs on the window to her left. _Ohyes. _This was obviously the best seat to daydream without the teacher noticing and also the seat where fewer eyes would scan over you during the start of a new year in search of new faces. This was going to be another year where Sakura would go on with her daily life without people bugging her. She had it all planned out perfectly in her head.

By the time Sakura had all her books and stationary set out neatly on the table, more students were filling up the seats around her. The front was always the row where no one would want to sit – only the people who were late during the first day of school would sit there; thus, people came early on this momentous occasion.

She had earlier noticed that Sasuke Uchiha was the only person from the popular clique that was in her class. There were emos, geeks (like herself, but they had each other to talk to) and wannabes, but none had the potential to be able to talk to THE Sasuke Uchiha in this class. The wannabes could have a chance, but Sakura calculated that that percentage was moderately low; it was about a 7% chance. She herself had an even slimmer chance, but like she even wanted to talk to him in the first place.

Finally, their homeroom teacher came in just on time as the bell went. Iruka-sensei walked in looking refreshed and happy. He calmly placed down a book on the singular desk at the front of the classroom and cleared his throat, ordering for all the students to quiet down.

"Welcome back, students. It seems I will be your homeroom teacher for the rest of this year. Now everyone raise your hand and answer to the register when I call your name, so I can get acquainted with all your faces," Iruka said, as he began to call out student names one by one.

When she heard her name, Sakura gave an ordinary, 'here, sir', raised her hand noncommittally and lowered it after he moved on to the next name. The register ended on Sasuke's name, but to Sakura's complete un-surprise, he wasn't in homeroom. Iruka frowned and repeated his name, as student's heads whipped round excitedly.

All of a sudden, the door slammed open and shut again, and the person in mention was standing with his hands casually tucked in his pockets, a small arrogant smile on his lips and his uniform scruffy. His white shirt buttons were undone and beneath them was a blue t-shirt. His trousers were so far down, that his Pacman boxers were on full exposé and his white Nike shoulder bag had various extracts of writing on it, all signed from his friends. Some read: "I 3 Sasuke, love Ino", "You're a dickless, like Naruto – Sai", whilst others just had very clear images of… inappropriate body parts.

Sakura inwardly scoffed, as she shifted in her seat slightly.

"Sorry I'm late, sensei," Sasuke said half-heartedly and monotonously. His voice was deep with an edge of gruffness that sent girls spiraling into fangirl wonderland.

The class population all gaped silently at his nonchalance to being late on the first day, and Iruka clearly wasn't happy either.

"And what is your cause for your lateness, Uchiha?" Yes, all the faculty members knew the names of the entire popular clique with the way they get into trouble so much.

Uchiha scratched his head and calmly replied, "I got caught up in Starbucks, sir."

Iruka smirked at his total lack of a clever answer. "Not very smart, Uchiha. It's the first day of your second year and you're already setting a bad example on the new younger students. Please take that into consideration the next time you go frolicking around outside of school."

"But did you know," Sasuke sharply retorted, "that the advantages of caffeine outweigh the disadvantages. It stimulates the cardiovascular system, the digestive system and the central nervous system – and we all know that alertness in school is what gets us the grades. It's a logical argument, sensei, so please take _that _into consideration the next time you tell a student off for being late because they had to finish their coffee." He smirked.

_That_ smirk – the one that sent Sakura's rage flying the most. And Sakura wasn't the only one bubbling underneath. Iruka's face had twisted into a grim set. His lips were drawn thin on his face, as he tried to contain his annoyance at the Uchiha being able to blow him out like a candle.

Everyone else in the class started to twitter amongst themselves, as they watched the show unfold in front of them, whilst Sasuke continued to look for a seat to sit in.

However, the only available seat left was one right at the front, closest to the door. In other words, at complete opposite ends of the classroom to Sakura.

'_Yes!'_ she happily thought, as she smiled slightly on the outside. _'No Sasuke in my perimeter for the rest of the year!'_

Despite it being the only seat left, Sasuke wasn't content. "Ah, man! The front row? Are you kidding?"

Iruka had finally had enough and bellowed out, "SASUKE UCHIHA, take your seat now!"

Sasuke's lips were tugging at the ends, as he put his hands up in mock surrender. "A'right, a'right, no need to blow a fuse. I'm sitting." He put his bag down by his desk, didn't take anything out and sat with his back leaning against the wall and one of his feet propped up on his chair. He raised an eyebrow at the teacher as a silence encased the classroom.

"Thank you," Iruka calmed, trying to bring his stress levels back down.

Sasuke and most of his friends (namely Naruto) had tendencies to back-chat or retaliate to their teachers whenever they heard an answer they didn't like. But they would do it with such a carefree alacrity, that all the teachers just got even more pissed off with them. It was amusing for them, and for lots of other students, but for Sakura, it just pissed her off as much as it did to the teachers.

Just then, much to Iruka's relief, the bell signaling the end of homeroom rung, as the teacher walked out, leaving the students to chat amongst them. Sakura got out Pride & Prejudice from her bag as she continued to read from her previous page.

She peeked over the top to glance round the room in curiosity, as she saw the loud bellows of laughter from the wannabes. She saw Sasuke sitting silently in the corner, his face partially buried in his hands. He was as silent as her, but she knew that Sasuke looking like a loner was far, far different from herself looking like a loner. He made it look cool, whilst she made it look isolated and nerdish.

'_Urh, stop thinking too highly of the popular clique, Sakura – they're all jerks… except for Ino.'_

...

As the gap between homeroom and their first lesson slowly faded away, Sasuke glanced over at the reading geek who was going to be an unexpectedly important part of his new plan. He just wasn't quite sure when he was going to drop the bomb, but he needed to start this soon, to end it quickly.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, Sasuke didn't know yet, he had yet to see a clear close-up of Sakura's face. He had seen a long shot, and from what he could tell, she was just any other geek. Pink hair and large rimmed glasses hardly helped her to become more attractive. But the way her large glasses would reflect the light, it managed to also shroud most of her face, thus Sasuke was curious as to what she really looked like. Not _attracted_, just _curious._

He heard the sliding door open and close and in walked their math's teacher, Kakashi-sensei, for Period 1. This man had such a boring voice that it sent Sasuke to sleep every time. He lay his head down on top of his folded arms and awaited the lesson to drift past him.

…And so did Period 2.

…And so did Period 3

By the time Sasuke felt readily awake again, it was lunch. He got up, fetched his bag and walked out.

...

Sakura picked up her tote and stuffed her books and stationary in it. As it was a beautifully sunny day, Sakura decided to sit on the field, but anywhere she goes, her bag goes with her. Last time she had left her bag on its own, it was completely smashed to pieces. Being a 'geek freak four-eyes' meant being the subject to bullying. She had learnt her lesson.

She went to the canteen and bought a simple pre-packaged pineapple bun. Finding a neat, perfectly green patch of grass on the school field, Sakura sat down and ripped the plastic off her bread with her pearl white teeth, as she hungrily took large bites. Contently, she lay down on her belly as she plucked pieces of grass with the opposite hand to the one holding her lunch.

Ominously, she felt someone's shadow standing over her.

Sakura, knowing it was Ino, flipped over and was suddenly looking into the friendly eyes of her childhood best friend.

"Ino!" she joyously cried, wrapping her arms round Ino's neck, as Ino crouched to reach Sakura's level. "How was your summer holiday?"

Ino sat down next to her, before replying, "Awesome, Sakura, absolutely frickin' awesome. What about you, Hun?"

"Honestly, I didn't do much. My parents wouldn't even let me out the house to buy milk. I was studying for those mocks we have in a few weeks."

"Oh, Sakura, you really have to just break free of the moulds, like I did."

Here we go again with this conversation. Sakura rolled her eyes and answered back, "You know that would break my parents' hearts. And plus, no offence Ino, but I'm not into the whole drunken fiasco thing every weekend."

"None taken. I love it, though, to be honest. It gives you a real thrill, just as long as I don't do anything stupid. But Sakura, it's your turn to do something stupid. You've got to live for yourself, not for your parents, even if you do break their hearts. Plus, rebelling against your folks doesn't have to turn out like it did when I did – you don't have to be what I am – but just become someone independent."

Sakura smiled at her life-long friend, and said noncommittally, "I'll think about it. And, your friends are calling you, so you better go." She pointed over to where Naruto was shouting maniacally whilst waving his hands.

Ino hugged her one last time and jogged towards her other mates. She joined their circle, who were also sitting on the field some distance away from her, and was greeted with an embrace from Sasuke, who spun her round, as she femininely giggled. He buried his head into her hair, in a total 'i-want-to-be-yours' kind of way, but it was too subtle for Ino to notice, as she sat down with the rest of the group.

Sakura saw it all over his face. Sasuke liked her best friend. She saw it in his eyes when Ino laughed and she saw it when she spotted him taking sneaky glances when Ino wasn't looking. He would play with her hair in a fond manner and run his fingernails up and down her arms in an orgasmic way.

Sakura had thought of the possibility many times before that Sasuke just wanted Ino because she was the only female he hadn't shagged in the popular clique. But, who knew the inner workings of an Uchiha?

When he returned from the school field to 2-E, Sasuke sat in his front row seat and looked around the classroom. Class had yet to begin, but almost the entire class was already here.

Personally, he hated this class and the people in it. None were his friends or people who he would normally speak to. The geeks were out of the question, the emos stuck to talking to each other and isolated everyone else and the wannabes were slightly tolerable, but not enough to talk to on a daily basis. That's why he would only use them for his own gain - it seemed like a brilliant idea to Sasuke.

And then he saw_ that_ flash of pink.

He glanced over and saw her nose buried in her book like it always was. But this time it was a math's text book, not Pride & Prejudice.

"Hey," he said, nudging a wannabes arm to get their attention. They turned around and flushed slightly at the sight of one of the most hottest and popular guys in school.

"Sasuke-kun!" the girl, Kin, squealed unintentionally. She smiled sweetly at him, fluttering her lashes in the most unattractive way.

He pointed subtly to Sakura, as he said, "Do you know anything about that girl?"

"Oh, her? She went to the same middle school as me, but she's been a complete geek since I first met her. She's, like, _always_ studying and reading, and I heard she's a total freak. But, appaz she's like some kind of best friend with Ino Yamanaka." Kin flipped her hair over her shoulder smartly, and leaned closer to Sasuke, squeezing her stuffed bra together to give the illusion of a cleavage – not working. "Anything more I can tell you, Sasuke-kun?"

He looked away disgustedly. I mean, sure, he was a playboy, but he wasn't _that_ desperate. "No, that's all."

"Why did you want to know about _her_, anyways?" she inquired, as she cocked one of her eyebrows. "She's, like, totally ugly…"

In reply, Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders, not sure as to how to reply to her insults towards a girl he thought held more surprises than what she primarily showed on the surface.

* * *

_Whoopsies, it suddenly dawned on me how i haven't published any stories in such a long time, but here you go, the most recent update... and the only update you'll be getting in another century or so :)_

_Review, if you would be so kind._


	3. The Living Dolls

**_ Love Bite._**

**_Chapter 3_**

_Have no time for headaches_  
_of the grown-up world_  
_They know the ways of money_  
_and their business is gold_  
_and they have what they need_  
_to make their dreams in this world_  
_They're terribly practical,_  
_Yes they are _

_-Jeremy Jay_

_

* * *

_

It was still the second day of school but Sakura was early for homeroom. She arrived at 2-E, and sat back down in her place. Her corner was completely empty, save for herself, but there were other people scattered around the room talking quietly amongst themselves. She took out her book yet again, and began reading, ignoring the gentle sliding of the door and the incoming of somebody. She felt another presence sit in the desk next to her, but ignored that too, as she was in raptures over Mr. Darcy entering the ballroom at Meryton. But when the desk squeaked against the floor, so that the two desks were almost touching, she started to become aware of the fact that the person sitting next to her was leaning closer to her, trying to talk in private.

She jumped away as fast as possible, but not getting very far at all, because of the fact that she was both handicapped by her chair and desk, and the window sill harshly knocking into her back.

She cried out a small squeak, as her book was knocked to the floor. "Sasuke Uchiha!" she horrifically exclaimed.

He picked her book up calmly, and placed it back down in front of her.

"Hello, Sakura Haruno," he smoothly said, keeping his voice low.

There was a tense silence between them, where Sakura was staring deeply, accusing Sasuke of something with her eyes, and where Sasuke had an amused glint in his ebony orbs.

"Er…" Sakura cut in, "What are you doing over here? Your desk is right at the opposite end of the class."

He was up to something, for definite. She just didn't know _what._ Otherwise he wouldn't be acting in this strange, quiet way.

"I need a favor."

_Ohh_, that was it… He needed a _favor_. Well of course he did. His grades were struggling and his target grades were way below average. What else could he want from a geek?

However, what he asked wasn't what Sakura was expecting in the least. It was a complete bombshell.

"I need you to tell me more about Ino Yamanaka."

It echoed in her mind a bit longer before Sakura could actually grasp what he was asking for.

"Err…" she stuttered. Oh god, he was a stalker. A stalker was stalking her best friend!

Sasuke saw the horrified look sweep over Sakura's face, and suddenly realized what she was thinking.

"No, no, no," he reasoned, "I'm not some kind of stalker!"

Sakura looked at Sasuke questioningly, but allowed him to explain.

"Ino's a great person and I get on with her really well, but she never tells me anything about herself. She keeps me at arm's length, but maybe if I find out more about her, we could really _connect_…" He raised his eyebrows up and down to suggest what only boys could think about constantly, and Sakura nearly retched.

Seeing the mortified and completely unimpressed look on Sakura's face again, Sasuke laughed, obviously amused at Sakura's reaction. "I'm kidding," he said.

Sakura relaxed and replied, "Of course you are. But please don't joke about my best friend in such a demeaning way. And I hope you didn't mean your words in Starbucks. You did it on purpose, didn't you? The exclamation of my friend being just another toy to you was practically loud enough for Ino to hear herself."

_'Wow, she is a smart bunny,'_ Sasuke thought, jokingly. "I give you credit for realizing the ruse, but my intentions were only to confirm that you were Ino's best friend. You're the only one I can trust."

A sentimental Uchiha didn't sound completely sane, and Sakura was contemplating if he was telling the truth or not. However, she didn't think it was right to just give out personal information about someone to a boy that she had barely talked to before.

"Erm…" she said hesitantly. "I don't think that I should be-"

"You want to get into a top college, don't you?" Sasuke interrupted. Yes, he was playing dirty and bribing her for information, but he really wanted to know more about Ino. "I'm from the Uchiha family, which owns one of the largest companies in Asia. I can easily get you in to any college of your choice…"

Sakura was wide-eyed at his proposal. This was something huge for Sakura. Her parents had worked their entire lives to get Sakura into a great college and now along came Sasuke and offered her wildest dreams on a silver platter. And he was only asking for little in return.

She hesitated a few seconds more, but really, she should have been over the moon. "…Okay," she accepted seriously, "Agreed. I'll share information about Ino, whilst you get me into a top college of my choice when the time comes."

"Agreed." They shook hands on it, and it was finalized.

"Just one question… Why Ino?"

"She's hot and she's the only one who I haven't had a taste of. And it's killing me. She's a challenge, like, er… like hacking into the government's system is to you."

"Okay, first of all, I don't hack into anything, and second of all, you're telling me that once you're bored of her, which you will inevitably be because you're Sasuke Uchiha, you're just going to _dispose _of her?"

Sasuke thought about it for a second, before replying, "Well, I wouldn't put it that cruelly, but pretty much yes. You said it yourself – I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

She was astonished at this, but decided it was best not to say anything. She had her future on the line, and she thought that just giving information to Sasuke wasn't like she was encouraging his immorality. It was up to him for the most part. Her information might not be of any help anyways.

Sasuke stood up to go back to his seat, noticing the wide eyes of most of the class, as Sakura went straight back to reading her book

He heard them muttering profanities including, 'Sasuke and that nerd girl? It can't be true!' and 'What the hell? Sasuke's mine, so why would he be talking to that Sakura geek?'

He wavered slightly. Wow, this was bad for his reputation. But it would land him the girl in the end, right? And he wanted Ino badly. She was the only thing he wanted that he couldn't get.

.&.

The next day, Sakura woke up with bad feelings filling her body to the brim. She felt as if she would explode with the pessimistic thoughts plaguing her insights into the future. She definitely wasn't going to have a good day, and she could partly see why.

As soon as she got into classroom 2-E, 15 minutes before AM homeroom, Sasuke Uchiha was already there, and what's worse, he was sitting in the desk right next to hers at the back row.

"Er, you don't sit there," she ordered, pointing an accusing glare at him.

"I do now," he replied smartly. "The other guy's happily swapped with me."

She looked over to Sasuke's old seat to find her ex desk neighbor sitting glumly with his head buried in his hands.

"'Happily'?"

"Yes, so please come and sit down now. I'm already impatient from waiting."

She grudged over to her seat and sat down, placing her bag on the floor.

"Okay, so how does this work?" Sakura asked, uninterested.

"Er… I'll just ask you a load of questions, and you will answer truthfully. No trying to get out of questions either. And then, using this information, I'll try and make some effective conversations with Ino and hit on her with all the newly acquired data. Then, when it comes to dating, I'll know exactly how she likes her steak so that I'll be able to order for her."

"Well, first of all," said Sakura, pushing her vanity glasses further up her nose, "she likes her steak medium well done and second of all, she hates above everything when boys order for her. She can't stand it."

"Oh," replied Sasuke, feeling a little defeated. "That was a good start…"

Feeling slightly sorry for the glum boy, she managed to force out a few words of comfort. "Er… but she likes cuddling in cinemas…?"

"She does?" he repeated, visibly perking up.

"So I remember her telling me."

He smiled slightly, but it was more of a cunning smirk, rather than a genuine grin.

_'So much for the cheering up. He's just thinking of sex in a dark cinema aisle,'_ she said disgustedly. Why was he so easy to predict?

Sasuke suddenly snapped back to reality after noticing the anxious look Sakura was throwing his way. "Er… anyway, let's move on… Hmm… what's Ino's favorite color?" he blurted out, thinking of the first question that popped into his head, in which she answered without hesitation.

"Purple."

"Does she have a pet?"

"No."

"How long have you been best friends with her?"

"Since we were born."

"Is she a virgin?"

"Yes-Wha? No! No, I mean… Urh!" she finally sprouted out, flustered to her maximum potential. She took 2 deep breaths before calmly replying, "Sasuke Uchiha, I don't think I should be enclosing such personal information with you."

"Cambridge? Oxford? Harvard? They're going to be waiting for you, Sakura, so please do contribute accordingly. And 'accordingly' says 'is Ino a virgin?'"

Sakura boiled inside in anger. '_Jerk!_'

He was trying to manipulate her into giving him what he wanted. But… it worked!

"Yes or no, Sakura. I'm waiting…" Sasuke said, as he stared thoughtfully into her eyes trying to find anything more.

She sighed again and regretfully said, "Yes, she is, despite saying she isn't."

"Wahey," he said monotonously, but with a hint of a chuckle, "just how I like it."

"Urh, lovely…" she commented sarcastically. "Look, I don't care if you end up de-virginizing Ino – it's her choice, just as long as she wants to do it too – but if you dare hurt her, I will _kill_ you."

"Sounds pretty, but for now, let's just carry on, shall we."

Sakura rolled her eyes. He was evading her threat, because he knew he would end up doing just that. He would just want the sex. Knowing Ino, she would want more.

"Does she have any siblings?"

"Like me, no."

"Ahem, I'm not asking for _your_ details," he said smartly, as she sighed in exhaustion for the millionth time that day. "Just stick to the necessary stuff and this'll all be over sooner than you expect. I'm not enjoying this any more than you are."

"Whatever," she said lazily.

"Hey…" he said, as he looked at her for the first time that day in full perspective. "What do you look like without your glasses and with your hair down?"

She froze for a good few seconds as she finally comprehended his question. No one had really asked her that before. They had assumed on first impressions that she was just a four-eyed ugly genius.

She didn't know what to say, until something that someone had said suddenly popped into her head. "… 'No one is both beautifully gorgeous and intelligent – this is like the perfect person. They're either ugly and smart, or pretty and dumb. Otherwise they're average on both sides.' Do you believe this?" she asked him.

Now it was his turn to look startled and frozen into speechlessness. He managed to utter the first response that came into his head, "No. I believe there's no such thing as 'perfect' but I believe there can be someone who is both incredibly gorgeous and intelligent, although I have yet to meet one."

She smiled enigmatically, before picking up her pen and flicking open her math's text book, as she wrote down some problems to questions. "Good answer," she inaudibly mumbled, not near loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

.&.

Sasuke's questions continued for the whole week at AM and PM homeroom and each time, Sakura answered as truthfully as possible. Unlike the first session, where Sasuke had asked if Ino was a virgin or not, he had stuck to more innocent questions that didn't delve too much into Ino's personal life.

However, he would get there soon enough…

"And the gravitational potential energy is higher at the top of the flight of stairs than at the bottom," the teacher's voice droned throughout the classroom, as people were literally using it as their own lullaby to get to sleep.

Sakura yawned another time. She had learnt all of this when she was 4, right before she had started to learn how to spell the longest word out of the english dictionary by heart.

Suddenly, a light vibrating startled her half-asleep form to see that her phone was beeping from a text alert beneath her table.

She grabbed her mobile, a Nokia n97, and slid it open, reading the text.

...

_From: Sasuke_

_What does she find attractive in men?_

_..._

She scanned through the message, before quickly typing a message back on her QWERTY keyboard, hitting send.

...

_From: Sakura _

_Hmm… well to be honest, they have to be handsome, and I think she goes for the 'bad boys'. _

...

_From Sasuke_

_Like… er, me?_

_...  
_

_From: Sakura_

_Well if you weren't so vain about your looks, then I might have given that to you as a compliment._

_...  
_

_From: Sasuke_

_You giving compliments to someone you absolutely loathe?_

_...  
_

_From: Sakura_

_You never know, but now you're definitely not getting any compliments mister ;p But back to the question, I don't think you're worthy of Ino's undivided attention just yet._

_...  
_

_From: Sasuke_

_So what do I have to do? Striptease for her?_

_...  
_

_From: Sakura _

_Ew, no. But I think I have an idea. I'll call you later about it._

_...  
_

_From: Sasuke_

_Whatevs._

_...  
_

As great as timing goes, the bell rang resonating through the classroom as students began to pack their things away and file out the room, including Sakura. She rushed home, only to be greeted by her cheery mum at the front door.

"Sakura! How was school, dear?" her mother chimed as she wrapped a protective arm around Sakura's petite shoulders, dragging her inside and sitting her down on the kitchen table. Her mum passed Sakura a cup of tea in her favorite Disneyland mug from when she was 10.

"It was okay. Er, mum, I have a favor to ask," Sakura asked nervously, reflecting in the way her hands were wringing the hemline of her skirt.

"Shoot, dear," her mum said calmly as she started to wash the dishes behind Sakura.

"Will you let me go to the mall today? I've got, ermm, stationary and books to buy…" she asked, half lying and half telling the truth, and worried her mum would say no. After all, her parents constantly had Sakura on house arrest and constant surveillance till she had finished all her homework and worked on her revision.

And just as predicted her mother spun around so fast and took a seat opposite Sakura.

"Of course not! It's a school night and you have to study for those mocks! You're slacking in your school work recently and your father and I are very worried."

"Did someone call me?" her father asked, walking into the kitchen.

Oh great, now her father was in the room. Now both of her parents would be down her throat with how she couldn't do this and how she couldn't do that.

"Oh, honey, it's terrible. Sakura wants to go the mall today, but she has that project to finish and she has all this schoolwork going on! She's turning on us, honey," her mother wept melodramatically.

"Oh, sweetie, Sakura's just going through those teenage phases and she's just confused," her father consoled, holding his wife to his chest as she distraughtly cried.

"Can you please stop talking to each other as if I'm not here?" Sakura cried out all of a sudden. She had had enough of her parents and their constant selfishness.

They stared at her wide-eyed. "Sakura, dear, are you feeling alright?" asked her father with clear hints of anxiety and worry.

"No, I'm not! You don't even care about how I feel towards all of this! I'm like your puppet that you think you can control. You dictate all of my actions and I can't even get out of this claustrophobic house without you breathing down my neck!"

"Oh, dear, if this is about the mall, why didn't you just say so?" her mother said, her voice wavering under a false smile.

"It's not just about the mall, mum! It's about everything! God, it's just… it's just…" and that's when she completely broke down. Sobs racked through her body, as she suddenly slid to the ground, unable to stabilize herself in this weak state. She buried her face in her hands, as her parents rushed over to her, wrapping their arms around Sakura and cradling her like she was a baby again.

Her mum made comforting cooing sounds to try and get Sakura to calm down. But once she had started crying, she couldn't stop.

An hour later, Sakura had finally managed to get all that she felt about her pressuring parents out to them and the look of bewildered shock mixed with sadness mixed with disappointment put Sakura on edge.

"W-Well, Sakura dear, if that's how you feel, we'll try to be better parents in the future, honey," her mum persisted.

"There's another thing I have to tell you," Sakura said, biting her lower lip in nervousness.

Her parents urged her on, and she began to explain the whole 'deal' with Sasuke.

"You see, my future at a top university is already guaranteed… if I give information about Ino to this guy – Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sasuke Uchiha?" her father cried out. "the youngest child of Fugaku Uchiha, one of the most powerful men in Asia. Oh, I completely forgot that Sasuke went to your school," her father said, remembering all the facts about the Uchiha household.

"Why does Sasuke want to know about Ino anyway?" her mum asked curiously.

"He likes her, but Ino doesn't let him get close and Sasuke wants to know more about her. Really, it's stupid, but this is what will get me into my university. I know I still have to work hard, but can't you give me breaks every now and then and let me live my life a bit more?"

Her parent's faces softened as they smiled fondly at their only daughter.

"Of course, Sakura. This is great, honey. Just as long as your grades are at a minimum of an A and you get all your homework finished. Does that sound okay, Sakura dear?"

"That sounds great, guys," Sakura replied, smiling. "So… can I still go to the mall today?"

"Oh, of course, as long as you're back soon."

Sakura was already getting used to her parent's livelier mood. She rushed up to her bedroom and got changed from her uniform into a pair of loose dark brown shorts, a Wildfox t-shirt with 'I _heart_ wildfox' across the middle and leather ankle boots.

She frowned at her reflection in the mirror, as she slyly took off her large vanity glasses and shook out her hair from her bun. It framed her face in loose waves. Applying a coat of sheer lipgloss, she rushed back down the stairs after stuffing her mobile in her pocket and hurried out the house. Once, she was out and around the corner, she dialed Sasuke's number (yes, she had gone out of her way with her parents for Sasuke Uchiha... who would've thought?)

_"Hello?" _Sasuke's raspy voice said from across the line.

"Oops, you sound busy. Are you busy?" she asked, biting her lip in a reflex action.

_"Well, I'm just in bed with this gorgeous girl, Sakura, but anything for you,"_ he crudely said, low moans sounding in the background, as his uneven breathing was also heard.

Sakura's face froze into shock, as she held the mobile away from her face for a moment, thinking how disturbing talking to Sasuke when he was in such a situation was.

"Ew," she cried out, before hurriedly getting out what she wanted to say. "Well, when you're, erm, finished, meet me at the food court in the mall." And then she immediately hung up, running the rest of the way to the shopping centre, scarred for life about what she had just accidently witnessed. So much for loving Ino…

* * *

_Yay, i published, aren't you proud of me? I've had so much time during this holiday, so i've been a frickin' machine at writing :)_

_I really think that i should write an e-mail of complaint to FF about their story editor because it's really peeving and wouldn't even let me write the longest word out of the dictionary in here :( I'm truly heart-broken..._

_But reviews would cheer me up at the end of the day._

_ex-oh!_


	4. Under The Influence

**_The Love Bite._**

**_Chapter 4._**

_I was driving too close to the edge and living dangerously_  
_I felt strange a warm sensation rising up inside of me_

_- James Morrison_

* * *

After Sasuke had finished his 'ministrations' with the girl, he chucked her out immediately. He then took off in his convertible to the mall to meet Sakura supposedly at the food court. Arriving, he made a beeline straight there, knowing that Sakura would have been waiting there for quite some time.

He made it to the food court but could see no sign of the geek. Confused, he took another 360 look around, until he felt a light tap on his left shoulder. Turning around, he came face to face with the small figure of just the girl he was looking for. At least, he _thought_ it was Sakura.

"Sasuke, you're late and you have explaining to do," she said, placing a slim hand on her hip.

"Er, Sakura?" he asked, confused and more than a little dazed.

"Are you high? Of course it's me," she said incredulously. "Who else has pink hair?"

"No, I'm not high, but you look, er…" he was searching for the right word without offending her as she cocked her eyebrow impatiently, "… different."

She raised her eyebrow even higher. "As in I don't have my glasses on and my hair's down…?"

He wouldn't have admitted it but in his head he was thinking about how Sakura resembled someone utterly gorgeous. His mind was filled with all things not-Ino, replaced with thoughts of his pink-haired companion. Sakura shouldn't be making his heart speed up a little, and his mind shouldn't be wheeling into an unknown destination. But, it was only because he was surprised, right?

"Just one question," he started, holding Sakura back, "Why don't you go to school like this? You'll be immediately classed as someone worthy of attention."

She blushed, as she replied, "My parents put me into the glasses and the bun, because they thought I would be dragged into hoards of trouble with the attention I would have supposedly gotten. They wanted me to lead a quiet life at school, avoiding any mishaps that could ruin my chances of getting into uni," she stated in a sarcastic fashion. "But don't dodge the situation," she said, glaring at the boy who stood way taller than her petite frame. "You were in bed with another girl and you didn't stop to think about Ino? You're a real jackass, you know that?"

"Hey, hey, hey," he replied, his hands rose in defense, "First of all, I haven't got Ino yet, therefore I'm still an eligible bachelor to all the ladies. Second of all, I'm a man. And I have needs. And those needs _need_ to be acknowledged and this hand," he held up his hand in front of her face wiggling each of his fingers to accentuate his point, "fails to give, if you know what I mean…" he raised one of his eyebrows in a way that dared 'deny it if you want to, but you know I'm right.'

She quickly gave up on the matter and slapped his hand away from her face, disgustedly, before she got the lergies. "Whatever," she replied in defeat, but hints of stubbornness filtered through and she could see through her peripheral vision the smug look of succession on Sasuke's face.

He looked at her again, trying to get used to her new and improved appearance. If only she would wear her hair like that at school, glasses or no glasses, people would definitely look at her in a different light. Every boy would go gaga over her and a fanclub would probably even set off. Sasuke thought about all of this in the span of about 2 seconds (with his boy genius brain) but a strange possessiveness told him to keep Sakura as his dirty little secret.

He hummed in thought before moving on to another topic. He needed to get Sakura's appearance out of his mind, because the thoughts that filled his mind frightened him of what he might end up doing someday – something that he'll most definitely regret.

"So, what are we doing at the mall?" he asked, looking around and trying not to make eye-contact with his female companion.

"We're here to get you a new wardrobe," Sakura proudly stated.

"And what's wrong with my current wardrobe?"

"Hey, first rule of today – no complaining. You'll do as I say if you want to successfully get Ino."

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest moodily. Barely ever had anyone ordered him around. He was starting to consider if Ino was worth all this trouble she was unknowingly putting him into.

"To further answer the question that you asked today at school about what Ino found attractive in men, she loves men with a sense of style. They have to be confident in how they dress, and let's be honest, Sasuke, you're just a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. She goes for the pretty-boy kind of thing with lots of accessories in check. Looking at you, you only have your Rolex. I should know what Ino wants, having spent hours listening to her about the other sex."

Sasuke lightly scoffed as he repeated her words incredulously. "_'the pretty-boy kind of thing'_?"

"Erm, yeah, like… I don't know, Super Junior boy band kind of thing. Maybe a checked scarf with high tops added to your usual combo. How about it?" Sakura asked, anxious to what he thought about her giving fashion advice. Just the thought of her being an Agony Aunt for fashion mishaps was disastrous but having shopped with Ino since she was young, Sakura was now pretty confident about telling her Gucci from her Pucci and her plaids from her pleats.

Stubbornly, he accepted but he didn't exactly like the idea of becoming a boy band impersonator.

"Come on then," Sakura said, dragging Sasuke off to their first destination – Topman. Every man must own at least one v-neck, one pair of retro socks and perhaps a pair of baggy jeans from the original English brand to call themselves men.

Sakura picked up a few accessories, including a bowler's hat and a surfer necklace, and then continued on to the shoes section, picking up a pair of black leather brogues. Pushing all that she managed to find for him into his arms, she shooed him off to the changing rooms where she waited for him to try on the many new t-shirts and jeans and various other outfits.

Finally, they paid, courtesy of Sasuke's credit card.

"Okay, I'm seriously hungry now," complained Sakura as they made their way to the food court. "I'm feeling for ice cream and cookies," she immaturely stated, smiling coyly up at Sasuke, who was walking beside her. "What about you, Sasuke?"

He glanced down and simply replied, "I'll have what you're having."

"Great, to Millie's we go. They do the best white chocolate cookies ever."

"Shouldn't you be more careful about what you eat?"

"Are you calling me fat, Sasuke Uchiha?" she asked mockingly.

"No, no, nothing like that," Sasuke countered defensively. "But you're a girl, so shouldn't you be ordering a salad or something?"

Sakura scoffed and laughed gently. "Please tell me you don't believe that?"

He raised his eyebrow skeptically. He was talking mainly from experience. Whenever he went to the mall with his friends, all the girls would just sit in the food court lusting after a chocolate brownie sundae, but instead opting to eat nothing at all.

"It's a fact that those girls are incompetent for thinking that skipping out on meals is healthy. Missing out on meals makes you fatter because the body needs to store more fat. It's also a fact that food tastes really good and little Sakura-chan can't live without a Millie's at least every week. So, come on," she said, dragging him for the second time that day.

And that's when Sasuke knew she was definitely different. But whether this would change anything or not was up to his decisions.

.&.

Sakura made her way to the Millie's counter as she ordered 2 white chocolate cookies and 2 ice cream cones, thrusting one of each into Sasuke's hands and keeping the other 2 for herself.

She took a naughty pre-lick of her ice cream, making her way through the crowds to find a seat. However, she frowned as she couldn't see any vacant tables.

"There are 2 seats over there, Sakura," Sasuke said, already making his way through the crowds. As she followed him, she was holding her cookie in between her teeth, her ice cream cone in her left hand and numerous shopping bags in the right hand.

Weaving through a group of teens, she accidently lost her footing, tumbling towards the ground. Before she could blink and before she could hit the floor, she felt strong hands wrap around her waist pulling her back up, as she squealed slightly.

The shock made her drop her ice cream to the floor before she was pulled into the toned chest of a male.

Dazed, she glanced up to see the handsome, chiseled face of Sasuke. She blushed furiously, as he looked down at her with a worried, heroic expression. She felt him level her on the ground again, his hands firmly wrapped around her waist still. She felt completely weak at the knees, and when she tried to thank him, all that came out her mouth were a long string of incomprehensible vowels.

He smirked at her. She was adorable when she was confused, he thought. Her eyes were still locked with his dark pupils, as she stood in a deep reverie for at least a few good seconds, before finally realizing that she had been staring. She blushed, and quickly stepped away, keeping her eyes now firmly fixed to the floor.

"…my ice cream," she said quietly, looking at the crushed smudge of melting strawberry cream. Suddenly, she felt the need to return back to when she was 6 years old, and all of a sudden she felt like balling her eyes out. Her lip quivered, not really thinking about where she was or who she was with.

Sasuke saw the tears starting to build at the corner of Sakura's eyes, and was suddenly aware that she was extremely emotional about the common act of dropping her ice cream. PMS, perhaps?

Before a tear could escape from Sakura's eyes, Sasuke was holding her hand and easing the tight fist that her hand involuntary shaped into whenever she felt the need to cry. His rough, large hands sent fissions of nerves straight to her stomach and she looked up at him admiringly with a new pinkness to her cheeks.

When he had Sakura's hands outstretched in his own, he placed his ice cream cone in it, securing her hand to fit around it. He smiled amusedly, and softly said, "There's no use crying over spilt milk."

An even larger blush crept up Sakura's neck as the tears that were building up suddenly vanished. And then she smiled comfortably.

"…thanks, Sasuke."

"No problem."

* * *

_Thanks for all the great reviews, favorites, etc, past, present & future. It's oh-so appreciated, i feel empty without them :) _

_Remember: Constructive criticism is always welcome, so feel free to inform me of any weird going-ons, especially spelling and grammar._

_The next chapter may be a bit delayed, simply because it's september, i have school and v. important exams coming soon, so sorry if i publish ultra late!_


	5. Spinning Around The Sun

Love Bite.

Chapter 5:

_It's hit or miss, it's swim or sail_  
_Just when you think you got it together,_  
_There comes the sun in change in the weather _

- Martina Sorbara

* * *

Should he be making her feel this way?

Sakura was lying in her bed in the pitch darkness trying to get some sleep, but the summer heat was causing insomnia… and no, it wasn't because she couldn't get Sasuke out of her mind.

She turned onto her side and cuddled her frayed teddy bear to her chest forcefully.

Images of the way he had held Sakura in his arms kept flashing through her mind, and the way his sincere look wasn't mocking in the least when she was nearly ready to cry. There was another side to him that she just couldn't put her finger on - a side that wasn't thinking dirty thoughts about girls and drugs.

Could it be that Sasuke was a closet romantic? Or a closet wuss? Or just a closet _something_? But, he definitely had something hidden and Sakura was determined to find out what it was.

The next evening, Sakura was lying in the bath, the scorching hot, but pleasantly soothing, water reaching up to her chin. Millions of bubble mountains were surrounding her and she let her muscles relax for the first time today. She scrubbed her body with a bath sponge until she winced at the blinding pain near the left side of her ribcage. Damn, that girl in her gym class had gotten her good. Volley balls were never the softest instrument for sports and can seriously hurt when they're directed at 200 mph at your abdomen. It had completely sucked the wind out of her and she had to be carried by her gym teacher to the nurse's office during the changeover between 1st period and 2nd (and trust me, her gym teacher was all 'youth!' and other humiliating motivational calls), which was more mortifying than the time when her lunch tray was knocked out of her controlled hands and into her face… right in front of the whole school. It had taken her 5 bottles of shampoo to try and wash the dessert from her hair.

Now a lovely, fresh bruise adorned her side but she paid no mind to it as she relaxed and let her body soak into the water. However, before she could even close her eyes again, her phone rang from the small table next to the bathtub. She dried her right hand and reached over the side to pick it up and press the green button; she loved talking on the phone to people when she was in the bath. Immediately thinking it was Ino, she greeted with her typical, "Yo, Ino."

"_It's Sasuke, idiot,"_ she heard the other end grumpily say.

"Oh, hey, Sasuke. Is everything okay?" she asked, thinking it was strange that the young Uchiha was calling her. Normally it was text or just talking in school.

"_No, not really, to be honest,"_ he said, his tone sounding dull and lifeless. _"I just came back from staying at Ino's place but she seems a little… distracted. And I didn't really know what to say to get her attention. Everything's just gone a little off."_

"Aw, hunny," she mocked, "You sound _so_ inexperienced with all this stuff, which is surely surprising for someone like you." She sat up a bit more in her bath, paying attention to whatever Sasuke had to say.

"_Urh, stop with all the arrogance, Sakura. I seriously need your help."_

Hm, a half-begging Uchiha was better than nothing. She accepted his plead and got down to the serious business.

"Alright then. Tell me everything that happened, and I mean everything," she ordered.

"_Well, it started when she invited me and all the other guys round afterschool and we just sat in her bedroom talking and just generally hanging out. Then, it was like they all set it up, because everyone had to go all of a sudden and Ino was obviously angry at them for leaving, so I decided to stay. Plus, I thought it would give me a good chance in testing out some of the information you gave me. And so I immediately dived in with conversation about all this stuff centering on her but she looked bored with the conversation and couldn't stop dazing out. I tried asking questions but I had to repeat myself so many times because she wasn't paying attention; it made me look like such a fool,"_ Sakura heard the transparent aggravation clearly and she shifted in the water, splashing about a gallons-worth on the bathroom tiles. _"Wait,"_ she heard him say, _"where are you?"_

"Heh-heh," she giggled nervously, "…in the bath."

"_Great, you're in the bath relaxing to your heart's content whilst I can't stop pacing up and down my room,"_ he sighed, the stress getting the better of him.

Sakura sensed what Sasuke needed, so she helped to console him to her best ability – she wasn't student council president for nothing. There were always hoards of troubled freshman seeking answers on the road of life, etcetera.

"Sasuke, sit down and calm down. Breathe properly, inhale in and exhale out," she followed the actions to encourage Sasuke to also follow, "just keep calming your chakra systems…"

He was following it all until he heard the word 'chakra' and he scoffed. _"Chakra? What a load of shit, Sakura. You don't honestly believe in all that crap, do you?"_

"Hey!" Sakura said defensively, "I'll have you know that chakra is widely believed in in meditation and yoga and meditation has been proven to have medical value… although it is mostly myth…" she mumbled at the end stubbornly.

"_I heard that,"_ he said smugly. She could just feel that arrogant smirk coming from the other end of the line.

"Okay, okay, you're completely right," Sakura admitted, "I don't believe in chakra solely because there's no scientific proof and meditation only has medical value because of stress hormones lowering inducing a release of beneficial chemicals. It's all extremely simple," she chided intelligently. Sasuke could just imagine her in her bath of bubbles with her vanity glasses slipping off her nose and her pushing them up with the tip of her finger in a clever, impish way as soon as she had finished that sentence. It was all a very 'Velma from Scooby-Doo' scene.

"_Do you always just start randomly going into scientific theories and supporting evidence whenever you have a point to prove?"_ Sasuke asked, genuinely curious.

Sakura blushed at her exposed secret. "I'm stubborn like that, it runs in the family," she mumbled quietly.

He smirked and laughed a little.

"This is no laughing matter, Sasuke Uchiha!" she scolded, "Me going into that whole scientific mode can get really annoying sometimes, I know. Even to me, it all seems a bit stuck-up, but I can't help it if I have all these digits of information stored in my brain with no use for them. I mean, I could ramble on all day about samurai in the Edo period, Lesley Hornby; aka Twiggy; in the year '66 and the creation of Hello Kitty if I really wanted to. I've read all of it up and for some strange reason my brain reacts by soaking in all this useless information. And when it comes to the important stuff, like before exams, I forget everything and I have work thrice as hard to try and remem-"

"_Do you ever stop talking?"_ he interrupted, but asked in an amused tone, one that stopped Sakura in her thought train and made her smile.

"Only when asked," she said, his amusement becoming quickly infectious.

"_Well then,"_ he started, chivalrously, "_I say this with the utmost respect, but please stop talking."_ Of course, he was joking, and Sakura didn't take any offence, instead smiling from her end of the phone.

A silence ensued, but it comfortably nestled its way between the two of them, zero awkwardness. During the moment of complete quietness, Sakura started to lather the bubble water combo onto her skin, rubbing her shoulders casually, as she balanced her mobile between her ear and shoulder expertly.

Out of the blue, Sasuke surprisingly, yet seriously, asked, "_Do you want to meet somewhere?"_

And it took Sakura by surprise, to which she suddenly jerked her head up in astonishment, her hands freezing in their place. She totally hadn't expected that! I mean, was it just her, or did that sound something akin to friendship or even, god forbids, something more? When had a geek ever been _friends_, or god forbids, something _more_, with a guy from the popular clique… like, never! The only exception between these two totally different stereotypes was Ino and herself, which was totally understandable because Ino had started off as a geek.

In her shock, she had failed to register that her mobile had completely fallen from her expert handling… and into the unwelcoming depths of her bubble bath. She hadn't even heard the splash or the plunk that would signal that her mobile had hit the porcelain tile at the bottom of her bath tub.

She froze for another good second, before her mind finally ordered her body to act.

"Oh, _crap_!"

.&.

On Sasuke's end…

He didn't really know what he was thinking when he asked her if they wanted to meet somewhere. It was just one of the ambitious urges and it wouldn't hurt a soul.

But the strange silence that followed put Sasuke on edge and he could practically feel Sakura freeze up on the other end. He waited for an answer, rolling his eyes at her slowness, but when he heard a soft _plunk, _he knew something was wrong, especially after a dial tone sounded through the mobile seconds after.

"Hello?" he asked in vain, in order to double-check that there definitely wasn't anybody on the other end. He swore he had heard the gurgling of water, but who could be sure?

"Meh," he said nonchalantly, and put his phone down, shrugging his shoulders. He would wait for Sakura to call him back, if she ever did. But it got him thinking, did the request to meet him really shock her that much that she had to hang up on him in her panic to react?

'_Women,'_ he thought, rolling his jet black eyes.

.&.

"I'm _so _sorry!" Sakura apologized for what seemed like, the thousandth time in that one call. She was using her home phone to call Sasuke back, whilst taking her mobile apart, draining it of some of the trapped bath water and using her hair dryer to evaporate the rest away.

"_Yes, so you keep saying,"_ Sasuke pointed out uninterestedly.

"But it was partly your fault, you know. I blame you," she accused in a deadpan tone.

And Sasuke was having none of that. He scoffed before replying with a matter-of-fact voice, _"You wouldn't have dropped your phone in the bath if you hadn't have handled it so carelessly."_

"I wouldn't have dropped my phone if you hadn't have rang in the first place!"

"_You shouldn't have picked up!"_

"And you shouldn't have shocked me with your out-of-the-blue question to meet up!"

"_It was meeting up, it wasn't asking for your hand in marriage or something!" _

"It might of well have been!"

"_What are you talking about?" _

Both of them were getting more worked up by the second and inhibition had been thrown out of the window a long time ago. Now they were just rambling. And arguing like a married couple. Any outsider who may have been listening to this encounter would have thought as much. They were a married couple… who were simply perfect for each other… but if they ever heard that, they'd have denied it completely, but obviously with flustered faces – a sign that they were subconsciously thinking this all through the argument. But of course, no one was listening; therefore they would never now that they sounded like a perfect couple.

"If my mobile is permanently broken, I'm so blaming you, Uchiha!" she growled through the line threateningly.

"_Yeah right, woman," _he scoffed arrogantly. _"Like anyone would listen…"_

"Ahem," she said smartly, obviously holding an advantageous card in the situation, "I think you'll find Ino would. After all, who would she listen to first: me, her life-long best friend and support line, or you, her weird stalker who was embarrassingly ignored by the said girl just earlier today…"

There was a tense silence between them, and then a small mumble of incomprehensible stubborn words from Sasuke and something that sounded vaguely like 'whatever'.

Sakura grinned in triumph. It wasn't everyday that an average girl won in a heated argument with an Uchiha. After all, they were oh-so successful in the business world, taking on a new meaning to the word 'empire'.

"Okay, you win," Sasuke stated, but with that constant boyish stubborn factor that sounded a lot like sulking.

"Cheer up, grumpy pants," she joked, trying to lighten the mood, "Don't be so hard on yourself. After all, you may be a great Uchiha, victorious over almost everyone, but I'm Sakura Haruno. It was clear from the beginning that I would win. I always do." She laughed after her bold statement, implying that she was half joking – but also half serious (she couldn't help herself!)

It seemed to work with lightening the mood. Sasuke perked up and chuckled as well. "Yeah, try that with my dad," he lightly mocked. However, it was the first time he had talked about any of his family and it caught Sakura off guard for a moment. Well, it was slightly awkward on her part. It was a well known fact that the youngest Uchiha brother wasn't so fond of his father, even though Sasuke was second in line to rule the Uchiha businesses after his older brother.

There was another silence and a light cough that could be heard from Sakura to cover her lack of words. Apart from that, all that could be heard was the hair dryer gently blowing away the water particles from her mobile.

Finally she spoke. "About that offer… I would like to meet up if it still isn't too late for you," she said, waiting anxiously for a response. It was a spontaneous decision, one that she didn't think she'd ever make, but when did one get the chance to just talk like two normal human beings with a guy from the popular clique when their worlds were so far apart? She assured herself that her parents would never have to know that she snuck out of the house at 11 at night in order to meet a boy. They would never approve, but she jostled that thought to the back of her mind. She didn't have to worry about any of that right now.

"Yeah sure, meet me outside St. Michael's church in 15 minutes, alright?" he stated firmly.

She nodded her head (even though he couldn't see her) and proceeded to agree with him in spoken form. "Alright, you better not show me up," she teased.

He chuckled and reassured her that he wouldn't. After that, they hung up and Sakura placed her home phone back into the cradle. She scraped back her damp hair and looked down at her attire. All she had on was a loose Batman t-shirt that she wore to sleep, which covered her knickers, but just barely. She would definitely need to change her outfit.

But that wasn't important right now… what was, was that she was _sneaking out of the house_! This was something utterly major in Sakura's point of view. How was she even going to pull this off? She was supposed to be neatly tucked in bed by now – she wasn't even supposed to have been awake to dry off her mobile (thank god for the sound-proof walls, otherwise the hair dryer would have given her away!)

Sakura thought for a moment and dumbly realized that her parents would also be in bed by this time, as ridiculous as it sounded. But they both worked full-time and had to wake early in the morning, so they made themselves a bedtime of around 10:30 every night. This gave her a perfect chance to slip through the front door without her parents waking up.

She was actually quite excited through all the nerves that sent her belly into somersaults. Now she was that little bit closer to feeling what Ino felt when she first declared war with her parents; it was the same sense of adrenaline and liberty that told her to do everything that her heart told her to do, instead of always listening to the brain. It was so different as to what she would have been doing if she had not taken up Sasuke's offer in the first place. For that reason, she was grateful of him. She felt like such a _rebel_!

* * *

_Hey losers! Just like to say, thanks for all the reviewers and all the favoriters, etc. _

_I'm back at school and i have a ton of exams, yet i think i'll always make time for my stories, so no worries, i'll be back soon (but don't count on it...)_


	6. Everyone's At It

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 6:_

_I'm not trying to say, _  
_That I'm smelling of roses, _  
_But when will we tire, _  
_Of putting shit up our noses. _

_ - Lily Allen_

* * *

She had dressed herself in just a baggy white shirt tucked into a pair of light-washed denim shorts. Her pink hair was free and her glasses were off. She was starting to get used to looking like this more frequently after Sasuke had asked her politely to keep her hair down out of school on the rare occasions that they met up.

She tucked her, now dry, phone into her pocket and pulled on a pair of black converses, frayed at the edges, but still wearable.

Creeping out into the hallway of the first floor of her house, she managed to muffle the sounds of her footsteps into the plush carpet, reveling in the fact that this helped her make her stealthy get away from the house. As she finally made her way into the outside world, she silently rejoiced and quickly continued on her way to St. Michael's Church. Everywhere would have been consumed in darkness if the street lights weren't there, but the orange flickering brightness helped her find her way easily. The summer night air prevented a chill from racking her body, especially her bare legs, but she was too anticipated for the night's coming events to think about the cold, or lack thereof.

Turning the corner that lead to the church, she was thankful to see Sasuke leaning against the brick wall that set the perimeter around the holy building. His arms were crossed over his chest and his lazy slouch looked calm and peaceful. But once he heard the light footsteps approaching him, he looked up slowly, noticing Sakura walk towards him with a quickened pace. They were under good light, so he could clearly see that she had followed his polite request to have her hair down when they met out of school.

"Hey," he said, smirking.

"Hi," she simply replied. She took a quick glance at what he was wearing and noticed with a smug grin that he had started to wear all the things that she had helped him find at the mall. His casual attire consisted of a dark baggy pair of jeans (that still showed his boxers, but Sakura calmly ignored this), a white v-neck t-shirt, a black waistcoat, a checked scarf and a pair of black and white Nike high-tops. "Ooh," she said, walking up to him and looking him up and down. She pointed her finger upwards to tell him to stand tall, thus he bounced off the wall slightly into a slouchy standing position in front of her. "Very nice, Sasuke Uchiha, you brush up well. Ino will love you for this," she exclaimed happily. "Just, something's a tad bit off with your scarf…" she wrapped her fingers around his scarf, twiddling with the cotton.

He never noticed how small she was really, but with her standing a breadth away from his body, he could tell she only reached his shoulders; the perfect proportion for boy and girl.

Sakura had finally fixed the scarf and took a step away to examine her work from a distance, beaming shortly after, implying she had accomplished her task. She took another look at him, but noticed something she failed to see on first sights – his rippling pectorals and gorgeous six-pack showed nicely through his white t-shirt. She stared at it for a bit longer, silently thinking this was so much more than 'a feast for the eyes'. She even had the slight temptation to take a stride forward and slide a finger down his toned chest… But no! She stopped her thoughts before they got a little bit too erotic, and turned away from Sasuke before he could notice the massive blush that stroked her cheeks.

Sasuke saved her from her mortified state and asked if she'd like to go for a walk, and so he lead her down the street, taking her to a shopping avenue where the shops were all closed, but the street lights and dim signs from the shops still glowed in the night. They walked side by side and Sakura struck up a conversation to ease the silence.

"Want to play 20 questions?" she asked him, a cheeky smile beaming up at him.

"Okay…" he agreed, but with a suspicious hint that she was up to no good.

He awaited her first question, blindly thinking that she was going to test him on how well he now knew Ino, but instead she started off with, "What's your family like?"

It caught him by surprise at first, simply because no one had dared to get into the mucky personal lives of the Uchiha household. Also, the frankness to which she had delivered the question was like ripping a band aid off, quick and painless.

He answered with his usual stoic attitude, but Sakura could tell she was treading on ice. "They're simple. Everyone in my family is so easy to predict… obviously except for my brother." He didn't want to elaborate further unless asked specifically, so he stopped there, satisfied with his answer. He looked sideways down at her to see her reaction, but there wasn't a major change in her features. She just carried on with question 2.

"What's he called?" she asked, more out of curiosity than anything. She was sure her father had told her once but she couldn't even remember, even with her god-like brain.

"Itachi. It means weasel," he said, scoffing.

But Sakura could pick up the slight contempt in Sasuke's voice, but didn't show it on her face. Instead, she chuckled slightly, opting to hastily continue. "What were you like as a child?"

"Naïve," he said plainly.

"Wasn't every kid?" Sakura retorted back in an amused tone. He laughed slightly at this too.

"Your naïve was like… I don't know, thinking that when animals and people die, they get placed into the night sky in the form of glittering stars, when it's actually so much more complicated, or much simpler, then anyone could imagine." He paused, finding the right words to start his next sentence. "My naïve was… it was like someone handing me a dagger and telling me to kill that murderer for justice… when in reality, two wrongs don't make a right."

She nodded at his last statement and showed she understood, but she honestly didn't really get what he was on about. She thought he could tell, in the way her eyebrows furrowed slightly, so he continued with his explanation.

"I think the difference between my childhood and everyone else's, is that I was immediately thrust into the world of adults. My whole future is planned out for me. Every single option I could have is closed off. I was like my family's puppet. Even my brother managed to do some of the things he wanted, like he went travelling across the world a few years back, which had been his dream since he was 10. On the other hand, if I had even suggested the idea of fulfilling one of my so-called 'dreams', it would be a whole different story. My family would just laugh at me. If I do the littlest thing wrong, my father would immediately know about it and reprimand me about what a fucking screw up I am."

She was slightly empathizing with him. After all, her future had also been planned out for her and her parents would lecture her about grades or homework. But she knew that, whilst she had it bad, her parents still loved her and she loved them. With Sasuke, he sounded lonely and isolated from his family. He was second in line to ruling a whole empire in the business world. His future relied much more on how to uphold the family name and honor rather than the menial task of upholding grades in school.

"But everyone knows it's no secret that you're drinking, on drugs, a mess in school, having sex with everything on legs and partying non-stop," she said. It probably didn't help that she made it seem like he was a screw up too, but Sasuke didn't notice this, and instead smirked, but it didn't quite reach his doleful eyes.

"Of course," he said, unregretful, making Sakura more confused than she already was, "It's the only thing that my parents won't stop me from doing because they know that if they do, I'll just do all the crimes but twice as extreme. They tried it before and look where it's gotten me," he held out his hands in a 'take a good look at my screwed up self' but he took pride in this.

They were now walking down an isolated street with many dodgy looking alleys at every left and right your head turned, leading to even dodgier destinations.

"Tell me about your family," he asked, a light plead tugging at his voice. But Sakura was confused as to what he wanted to hear from her. Did he want to hear a story that retold childhoods of divorce, death and corruption that made his childhood seem like a stroll in the park, or did he want a story that would make him feel confident that there was hope and happiness in other families and not everyone was experiencing the same ordeals he faced? Instead of following her brain, she just went with the honest, uncut truth.

"I'm an only child, if you remember me telling you," Sakura started, glancing up at him to see if he had remembered, in which he turned to her and nodded lightly. "Have I ever told you about Ino's childhood?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow at this. He thought she was going to talk about herself… He shook his head nonetheless.

"Mine and Ino's pasts are extremely similar. Her parents are friends with my parents and they believed in the same upbringing of their children as each other. Literally, our childhoods were consisted of pressuring and high expectations in school. But when Ino's parents divorced, a change occurred inside her, and she rebelled against all that she, or her parents, had lived for. And she turned out how she is – completely popular, attractive, _alive…_" Sakura whispered the last word, as if it would burn her if she didn't handle it with care. "We were on the same path until that happened. I guess she went down a different road that led to Neverland, and I continued on the path that pointed me to happy parents. But now they've changed slightly. They've both realized that I'm way too old to be so oblivious about the way that they're controlling my life. I have more freedom now." Sakura purposely missed out the bit where she told her parents about her and Sasuke's deal. Her parents were definitely acting more lenient, but she wasn't exactly sure if Sasuke wanted her to tell another soul.

"You're very lucky," Sasuke said, his gaze fixated at the cobble ground beneath them.

Suddenly, they simultaneously heard the sound of laughter and footsteps approaching them. They looked up and noticed a considerable-sized group heading their way. On a closer look, Sasuke immediately noticed that they weren't just anybody – it was his friends, including Ino and Naruto. He cursed, and Sakura was wide-eyed. She hadn't let anybody see her without her customary ponytail and geek glasses except for Ino and she sure as hell wasn't ready for the entire popular clique to notice her real appearance. Plus, she hadn't told Ino that her and Sasuke were talking, let alone hanging out… who could blame her though, when it was Ino that their conversations were based on.

Sasuke, also noting her distressed form, hastily pulled her into the closest alleyway, which was to their right, their game of 20 questions immediately out the window. Sasuke generally didn't want to get noticed and dragged into a dull conversation about pointless things when he was having a perfectly great time with Sakura. He was honestly not ashamed of being seen with Sakura at all, even though no sane guy would be, with Sakura looking the way she did at that moment.

Sakura sputtered an audible gasp, as she was dragged with both her wrists to the alley, which was covered in grime, moss and corroded bricks crumbling on the floor, noticeable even in the dark. There was a retched stench that filled the air around them, but Sakura tried her hardest to cover her displeasure while Ino and her friends walked past, hopefully not noticing them in the shadows. But as they were walking closer and closer by the ally, Sasuke wasn't sure if the darkness was enough to cover them, especially with Sakura's lively pink hair.

Daringly, he pinned her against the wall, shushing her silent protests, and leaned against the bricks with his elbow, trying to hide his and her head behind his biceps. He leaned in closer to her face, almost practically touching, as she fought a blush that threatened to reveal. Instead, she attempted to keep a calm composure.

He was too close! She had never been this close with any guy before, but his alluring eyes were enticing her to lean just a little bit closer so they could physically touch – but she refrained the temptation, as a nervousness was bubbling in her stomach at the thought of being caught. However, she could feel the movements of Sasuke's chest as they just grazed against her own chest in such a perfect fit. His breathing was even, she noted, and completely calm, but she doubted if hers had the same serene pattern.

They were getting closer and Naruto's voice was definitely heard above the rest, as it seemed he was having an argument with another guy – who turned out to be Kiba, a boy who was infamously known around the school as the ultimate flirt. Never believe a word that he says, was what Ino had told her once.

Sakura bit her lip hard enough to taste blood on her dry tongue. They were walking past the alleyway that she and Sasuke occupied at that very moment… but they noticed them.

Or at least their silhouettes in the darkness.

Naruto gave a crude call, addressing the suggestive positions she and him were in. "Oi! Get a room you two!"

Sakura blindly heard other jeers at the two of them, but Sasuke continued to look to the ground and kept their faces hidden with his leaning arm. He placed the free hand lazily on Sakura's hip and pulled her lower torso closer, just at a grazing distance.

Sakura heard a few wolf whistles, one which was definitely from Ino's lips. The others, she was sure were from Neji Hyuuga and a guy called Shikamaru, who was constantly high, as fully noticeable by the stoned expression he would wear everywhere and the ever present smell of weed that eradiated from his body whenever she had walked past him. She took a quick glance under Sasuke's arm, and confirmed her assumption. She stole a glance at Ino and saw her with a crazy smirk as she put her finger to her lips expertly, whistling lowly. Sakura had _so_ taught her how to do that!

"Don't forget to use protection!" she heard another say, who Sasuke recognized to be Kankuro. He was a year older than the both of them, but was close friends with all of his friends, including himself.

Sasuke smirked inwardly at the remarks, but didn't show any signs of it on the outside. It was so like his friends to say something like that to complete strangers (or who they thought were strangers). Just with body language, Sasuke had made it seem that he was making out with Sakura, which he didn't think was even a realistic thought. She was hot and everything, but Sasuke knew who she was at school – and making out with a geek wasn't his style.

However, he hadn't intended for that thought to send a guilty twang down his spinal cord. It sent shivers round his body and gave an alert signal to his brain that he didn't really mean his earlier statement. Who Sakura was at school wasn't a thing like who she really was in reality.

His friends soon walked on and left them alone. When Sasuke thought it was safe to reveal themselves again, he slowly backed away from Sakura, and let her regain her personal space.

"What the hell was that?" Sakura harshly whispered, still paranoid that they might have been lurking just round the corner. She had no malice in her tone; just a slight twinge of confusion and embarrassment.

He coughed awkwardly, and took another smaller step away from Sakura. Sure, he had been much closer with other girls, but Sakura was not another girl. He had confided and opened up to her without a seconds thought. He hadn't even shared all that about his family with some of his closest friends, apart from Naruto, who was the only exception.

To answer his question, he simply smirked and gave a nonchalant shrug.

She, in return, shook her head in comedic annoyance, obviously noting that sly smirk he radiated whenever he found a situation amusing when it really shouldn't be.

"That Ino, I'm going to kill her at the next chance I get!" she scowled, thinking back on the mortifying expressions Ino had _kindly _victimized Sakura with.

The poor girl felt like her face had been on fire throughout the whole performance. She looked up at Sasuke quickly, but disappointedly noticed that he was wearing the exact carefree, even expression he wore on a daily basis. Obviously being in a position that could make Sakura feel greatly uncomfortable was the 'safety zone' for Sasuke.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke talked and lightly commented, "You know, Sakura, you're the figure I never had in my life. I can confide in you and tell you stuff that I've barely even talked about with Naruto, and I've known him for far longer. I mean, sure, I can talk about girls and drugs with Naruto, but you…" he hesitated a moment, and looked down at the gritty floor consciously, "…you're different."

There. He had said it, and it suddenly felt as if a ton of bricks had been lifted from his chest. But then a deep nervousness kicked in straight afterwards. He didn't know how she would react and what she would say.

She was about to reply, until he interrupted quickly. He didn't want to hear her humiliating rejection. "That's why," he cautiously began, "I don't want to… I don't know, _change_ anything between us. We should just… stay friends."

Now that surprised Sakura to the point where infinity ended. He had meant it in a totally innocent way – as in, the earlier 'run-in' with Ino and her friends shouldn't put anything awkward, uncomfortable or humiliating between the two of them, as well as to make sure Sakura doesn't get any ideas in her head about their current relationship. But to caption that said relationship as 'friend' status was more than Sakura was asking for. And it showed on her confused face too.

He quickly elaborated, noticing the _slight_ mistake he had made. "I-I mean…" he stuttered dumbly but didn't get time to finish.

"I understand," Sakura quickly said, relieving Sasuke of any more awkwardness. She smiled up at him through her lashes. But then a question hit her mind like the plague. She thought out loud and curiously asked Sasuke, "You say I'm… different, and that you can talk to me about stuff that you can't even talk to Naruto about… But would you have considered talking to me about that serious stuff if you knew, in the first place, that I wasn't actually that 'geeky weirdo four-eyes'?"

It took him about 8 whole seconds to comprehend the question, and then another 5 seconds to actually answer it. And Sakura was waiting there, biting on her thumb nail nervously, and curious to really know the real Sasuke just a _little_ bit more.

Sakura interpreted his silence and answered for him. "I would just be another girl you would screw and throw away, wouldn't I?" Now her voice held all the contempt and judgmental attitude she held towards his unjustifiable actions towards other girls.

He gulped and looked for some other meaning in her rounded eyes. But her whole face was covered by her pink hair. He didn't know how to answer, in the fat chance that he would undoubtedly make it worse.

"I have to go now," Sakura mumbled, still staring at the ground.

"I'll walk you back," Sasuke weakly offered, but Sakura declined immediately.

"I'd rather you not," and she started to walk away from him. She could feel her feet move faster, but her head wasn't in it. She just wanted to get away from him. But before she turned out of the alley, she turned back her head a fraction, and coldly added, "I'd have never let you screw me around anyways; I have standards…" And then she kept walking in the direction back to her home.

But she didn't know that her one line that she had just spoken had secretly offended Sasuke.

* * *

_Reading through all the past reviews and they're so nice :') Makes me want to cry..._

_To anyone who has twitter, follow me at winniecakes and maybe, probably, hopefully, i might just follow you back :)_

_Also, to emeraldmoon14,who asked if there was going to be any cheating between Sasuke and Sakura (at least i think you meant cheating - there wasn't a 'h'), even i don't know, but just for you, i don't think there will be :)_


	7. Pink Love

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 7_

_I want to kiss the sickness of mind _  
_My heart without reason _  
_Sunken to deep disappointment _  
_Spreads over universe _  
_With a knife _

_- Blonde Redhead_

* * *

Speaking theoretically, Sakura was sure that Sasuke had not taken offence from her comment. After all, she had only said she had standards, which was, in its entire entirety, so true. Whereas, Sasuke… he would throw around so many girls without a seconds thought.

However, when Sasuke was completely blanking her at every perspective, she started to become more and more wary of what she had said.

And she had no one to talk to about it.

Ino was most definitely off limits. She knew nothing about Sakura and Sasuke's 'acquaintance', which had initially started all about Ino. Her parents were also definitely off limits – they were as square with relationships as the Amish.

But going back to Ino… Sakura got the impression that Sasuke had more or less… stopped loving her. But was that even possible – to just go from love to nothing in 5 seconds? But Sakura could have seen it coming from a mile away and was internally reminded that Sasuke had never _loved_ Ino. He was just using her for her virginity.

The thought made Sakura feel a little more reassured for some reason. _'Sasuke had never _loved_ her.' _She kept repeating it in her head, swishing it around with her tongue. It sounded good. It felt pleasurable on her tongue… Did that make her a bad person?

.&.

The next time Sakura saw Sasuke, it was in the school's hallway down the science block. She saw Sasuke take a left and walk into a lab at lunch. She followed him out of a quick impulse that failed to process in her brain. She peeked into the classroom before she stepped in, noticing that Sasuke was alone and taking a seat near the front of the lab, laying his bag on the table. His posture was the epitome of nonchalance, and Sakura quickly ducked into the classroom, taking the free seat next to him. He looked round in alarm, before finally asking in a surprised tone, "What are you doing here, Sakura? You didn't get a detention too, did you?"

"A detention?" Sakura thought, taking a few minutes for it to finally process. "Ohh, so that's why you're in a lab at lunch. Erm, but no, I didn't get a detention. In fact, I don't really know why I'm in here at all…"

Sasuke looked even more confused. This conversation was getting nowhere.

"Actually," started Sakura, suddenly recovering a fragment of her broken logic, "I have to ask you something – why have you been ignoring me recently?"

'_As blunt as a spoon and as receptive as a goat,'_ Sasuke thought bitterly.

However, he coldly replied, "Look, it doesn't matter, Sakura. Just get out of here before a teacher thinks you've done something wrong."

Sakura looked at him, but he wasn't looking back. Instead, his eyes were directed at the smooth marble countertops.

"Did I offend you the other day? We were getting on perfectly till I said that… I, erm, have… standards."

He visibly flinched, which told Sakura everything and she suddenly gained the courage to face him head-on.

"I didn't mean what I said, Sasuke. It's just that it kind of came out of my mouth in the heat of the moment. I didn't mean to hurt you." She knew that he only jumped into other girls' pants because of the pressure he received from his family, especially his dad. She laid a gentle hand on his bicep, which was tense with an untellable emotion.

But he scoffed and moved his arm away from her touch. "It wasn't like that," he eventually said. "You couldn't offend me even if you wanted to." And this is when his male pride starts to get the better of him. But his sentimental tone told Sakura he really meant it. "It wasn't like I didn't offend you as well."

She remembered back to that night, and was reminded of silence from Sasuke that indicated that if she weren't a four-eyed geek at high school, he wouldn't have been so eager to listen to anything she had to offer. But that didn't matter right now. She didn't care, because as it happened, things didn't turn out like that. Sasuke had opened up to her and she was thanking God that he had. It made him seem less like the cold-hearted ice Prince and more like a real, breathing human being.

"Okay," Sasuke sighed, feeling defeated, "I was slightly hurt by your comment, but only because," he paused slightly for emphasis… "Only because you made me sound like I didn't respect you. Even if I met you with your hair down and your glasses nowhere in sight, I would have still respected you. I respect all women. I only do what I do to them because…." He took a deep sigh before revealing his reason, "Because it ups my appearance. There, I said it. I only screw girls over because it makes me look good. And in front of Naruto and all the other guys, it's something we all do just to make us look like gods, especially in front of my dad. It makes me feel liberated from him. It's pathetic, isn't it?"

Sakura's eyebrows knitted together, "Well, yeah, kind of," she scoffed, half laughing, and half frowning. "You're a shit excuse for a man (pardon my French), but that doesn't make you any less human. I can totally understand the family reason, but the selfishness of your actions are so beyond forgiveness… but I'll find a way," she smiled up at him warmly. "Only if we can be 'friends' again… or whatever we were," she grinned, giggling heartily.

He smiled back, liking how Sakura liked their relationship as it was.

But their moment was interrupted by a teacher walking into the room, a pile of exercise books stacked up to his chin. He loudly dropped them on his desk, startling both Sakura and Sasuke, as they abruptly moved away from each other. The teacher looked between the two of them suspiciously, before slowly asking, "Haruno, what are you doing in detention?" Obviously the thought of Sakura getting into trouble was an unbelievable concept.

Sakura jumbled for an excuse and managed to squeak out the lamest excuse in the book: "I thought I left my Biology book here, but I think I must have left it at home. Sorry, Sir," she quickly apologized, before standing up and pulling her satchel onto her shoulder. She left the lab, but not before flicking a temperate smile behind her shoulder at Sasuke and cheekily mouthing the words 'Bye, Friend…', adding a childishly innocent wave at him, who, in return, smirked at her.

.&.

All during detention, Sasuke gazed at the seat that Sakura had just occupied. Her fresh scent still lingered in the air around him. The room was silent, except for the teacher's pen at the front of the classroom that was busily scratching away at the paper.

On normal circumstances, detention would be boring Sasuke out of his mind, but today, thoughts that shouldn't be lingering were doing exactly that. They were filling up his head and he couldn't think logically anymore.

He whipped out his phone from his pant pocket and decided to console his worries with one of the very few that he could actually trust: Naruto.

…

From: Sasuke

To: Naruto

Meet me after my detention at fag alley – need to talk!

…

Fag alley was one of those typical places where you would find every student who skives lessons, every student who smokes, or every student who's part of the popular clique. It was the hang about for the rebels in the school and was just opposite the school entrance, hidden by a few bushes and an unsuspecting walkway. Walk in the 10 meter radius of fag alley and your nostrils will fill up with nicotine and you'll find an extremely large population of cigarette butts on the floor. No teacher, nor outsider, has ever dared enter.

However, Sasuke and Naruto were frequent visitors when they just wanted to smoke another joint. They couldn't help themselves. They were free spirits and loving every second, despite the health risks.

Like clockwork, just as the bell for lunch rang and Sasuke's detention was finished, he made his way out of school boundaries and across the road from the school gates. Flicking a cautious glance behind his shoulder to check that no teacher was following, he made a turn on his left and entered the narrow alleyway, shrouded by scrubs and a wooden fencing on both sides.

He greeted some of the people leaning on the walls either side of the alley with a handshake or a smirk as he passed them. Finally, he got about three-quarters of the way in and found Naruto expertly rolling up a fat joint. Just as Naruto licked the paper's edge and finished rolling, Sasuke snatched it out of Naruto's hand, and lit the joint with a cheap plastic lighter he kept in his pant pocket at all times.

"Oi," Naruto exclaimed immaturely.

Sasuke ignored him, and took a long intake, slowly savoring the toxicity filling up his lungs in a euphoric pleasure. So he would be slightly lean for next lesson… who cares?

Sasuke handed back the joint to Naruto, who glared at his friend but took it nonetheless. "Get your own next time, teme."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the old nickname, but didn't bother pointing it out. Instead, Sasuke took Naruto by the arm and led him further down the alley to a more secluded and less populated section. "Naruto, I think I'm-"

"Save it, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted bluntly. "I know your story… you're in love."

It was Sasuke's cue to look utterly shocked beyond belief. "What?" he sharply pointed out, narrowing his eyes at Naruto and fixing a deadly glare at him.

"I can see it all over you. You're so whipped." Naruto stated all of this in a calm manner whilst he was still smoking on his joint. His eyes had turned to a lazier, dilated shade – evident proof that he was lean. And then came the giggles. He managed to slow down enough to ask, "So, who is it? It can't be Ino, can it? She was a 'fuck and run', wasn't she?" And he started to giggle again at his last statement, finding the very lettering of it amusing when it really shouldn't have been.

Sasuke was easily tired and annoyed when Naruto was the only one high and he was still sane. So he snatched the joint from Naruto and decided to finish the rest off, which wasn't actually much. "Wait, before we get onto 'who', how the _hell_ can you tell?"

"Please, dude, I practically have a PhD in love, I think I can point out a few well-known side effects. I mean," he pointed to Sasuke's hands, which were constantly being rubbed against his polo shirt in an agitated manner, "sweaty, nervous hands," he continued to point to his stomach, "butterflies whenever you're around that person," and then Naruto's attention turned to Sasuke's eyes, "dark circles from lack of sleep – most likely kept up all night from thinking about this person too much…"

Sasuke submissively listened to all the bull that was sprouting from Naruto's mouth. Admittedly, butterflies _did_ make their appearance every now and again, and he _was_ suffering from lack of sleep… but surely it could be something else. He thought for a second, silently smoking on his joint before throwing it to the ground, extinguishing it and voicing his opinion out loud.

"'Something else'?" Naruto cried dramatically. He placed a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gazed into his eyes in a corny manner, "You may not want to admit it, Sasuke, dear child, but love is not something to be ignored or rejected. Take it, cherish it, and never let it go…" And then Naruto burst into a fit of laughter. "Pschh, yeah, as if THE Sasuke Uchiha could ever be in love!" He mimicked his earlier speech and then laughed so hard afterwards that he was practically reeling over. "Just think of your symptoms as 'something else', Sasuke, don't worry about it," Naruto said sympathetically, patting Sasuke on the back.

Sasuke frowned and remained silent. So he wasn't in love? Naruto almost had him – close call.

They started walking back to their lessons despite being 10 minutes late. But all the while, Sasuke reflected on Naruto's long speech, and for some unknown reason, in a very cliché way, Sasuke considered the possibility of Naruto's words being correct. And then he had to ask himself, _'What if?'_

* * *

_Hello there, i'm back with an update!_

_Hope this chapter is to your satisfaction - urkkk, so cheesy! _

_Strangely, this little place called 'fag alley' actually exists, but as for where, my lips are sealed._

_edit. Do you know what i just noticed? Fag isn't used globally. I was referring to British slang - fag as in cigarette :)_

_^That gives you a massive clue as to where this 'fag alley' that i know of is..._


	8. Your Biggest Mistake

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 8:_

_It's a shame you don't know what you're running from_  
_Would your bones have to break and your lights turn off_  
_Would it take the end of time to hear your heart's false start?_

_ - Ellie Goulding_

* * *

There were so many unanswered questions that swam in Sasuke's head. But surely he couldn't be _in love_. But then again, he'd never been in love before to know what it properly felt like. How could love be this painful? Sasuke was pretty certain that love was nice, fluffy, comforting, and not the aching pains he was experiencing. Surely he wasn't…

.&.

The next week, Sasuke walked into school with the same stoic expression he wore everyday, which made the girls swoon and cry and beg for his holy self. But he only had his mind on one girl. Ino Yamanaka was waiting for him at the front entrance with her hands above her eyes trying to block out the morning sun. She was a beauty. But Sasuke felt his eyes go straight through her.

"Sasuke!" she shouted out, waving to him and running over in her Manolo Blahnik's that she had fashioned with her dull uniform. "What's up? You seem a little off-color. You're not sick, are you?" she asked, worry etched in her sweet voice. She saw right through him whilst others thought that he was fine because he _looked_ fine. Ino could figure out all that was wrong in just a few seconds.

She put a palm up to Sasuke's forehead, anxiety etched into her eyes, but Sasuke instantly flinched away, snapping back into reality.

"Wha-?" he rushed out, "No, I'm fine…"

Ino hesitated for a moment, at a loss for words. Something was definitely up, but before she could ask about it, Sasuke had walked off, heading in the direction of his classroom.

He needed to snap out the reverie he was so deeply caught in. He should have felt something, anything. But when Ino put her hand up to his forehead with that sincere look of concern on her face, he had felt nothing, when normally he'd be jumping summersaults in his mind. I mean, it wasn't everyday that someone saw the school's goddess caring for anyone but herself. Yep, something was definitely wrong with him, and he had a strange, obsessing feeling that it had something to do with Sakura Haruno… bitch.

From this point on, please refrain from using the words 'love' and 'Sakura' in the same sentence. He reasoned with himself – he did not love Sakura Haruno, and that was that.

However, he still had to see her and talk to her. It was giving him headaches and he couldn't think logically anymore. He needed the cure.

He stormed the classroom, in pursuit of his pink-haired '_darling'_. If she was the cause of all this turmoil in his head then she should have the anecdote. Sasuke growled lowly when he saw Sakura sitting at her desk nonchalantly, with her eyes closed and her face resting in her hands. She had a calm serenity in her expression… one that sent Sasuke on edge. He grabbed her wrist forcefully, making Sakura snap her eyes open and her lips to gateway the loud protests. But Sasuke ignored her and dragged her to the school roof where the open air at the high altitude smacked them in the face square on.

He finally eased his tight grip on her wrist and she snatched it back with a daring look of contempt in her eyes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched, her hand rubbing the handprint etched into her skin. It wasn't everyday that she gets dragged from her seat 5 minutes before homeroom.

He completely ignored her and didn't even try to make eye-contact. She was a witch, as diabolical as it sounded, but if she wasn't that, then she better have a bloody good reason for making him feel this strange inside.

He pinned her against the wall, the breeze blowing her messy side fridge further across her forehead. His head hung low, trying to find the right words to successfully interrogate her. Sakura was puzzled to say the least. Firstly, he had stormed into the classroom and dragged her up to the rooftop; secondly, he had completely evaded her question and thirdly, he was now pinning her against the wall with his body explicitly, painstakingly, and addictively close to hers. She blushed from the roots of her hair to all the cells in her toes. She could smell the masculine cologne smother her in unexplainable glory; a fragrance that smelled suspiciously similar to Diesel: Fuel For Life – simply scrumptious.

"What are you, Sakura?" he suddenly quietly mumbled, as emotions akin to vulnerability and weakness reflected in his tone – something Sakura had never experienced when with him.

"I'm exactly that," she quietly, cautiously replied, "I'm just Sakura."

"No…" he said, his voice wavering. His head suddenly whipped up, startling Sakura for a moment, and his eyes held a solid look of determination in them. "No," he repeated more confidently, "you're definitely something more. You can reduce me to such a state… reducing an Uchiha to weak fools is no easy feat… how did you do it?" his voice unexpectedly had a sense of urgency wavering through it and he gripped Sakura's shoulders like a psychopath. It hurt, but Sakura didn't let it show.

"S-Sasuke… are you feeling alright?" she caressed his cheek softly with the backside of her hand in a caring way and Sasuke greedily held her hand closer to his cold cheeks. She was so warm. She was so enticing. He looked into her deep green eyes and looked hard, searching for all the answers, but only finding himself weaved deeper in the web.

"No, I don't think I'm alright, Sakura. Something's going on inside me. It hurts. Whenever I'm with you, it hurts. There's this indecipherable pain in my chest and I break out in a sweat whenever you're near. You set me on edge whenever you look at me with that damn gorgeous expression of yours where you're completely clueless but insanely sexy. And for heaven's sake," he said, frustrated, "I don't feel anything for Ino except for friendship anymore. This is all so twisted. It's like… I lov-…lo-"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. He was so close to saying it, but the way his brows furrowed at the last moment meant it was stuck in his throat. His speech was incredibly corny without it even being intentional, but Sakura still found it completely adorable.

And so she took the plunge and she made the first confession.

"I love you too, Sasuke Uchiha," she bluntly said, a smile breaking out on her pearl pink lips.

"What?" he stammered, a frown adorning his perfect features.

"I said I love you." She cupped his cheek adoringly. "Now your turn…"

He stuttered for a few seconds, his eyes opening and closing again in contemplation and confusion. "W-well, I… I…" he didn't know what to say, so he said the easiest thing that he could in his condition, "I don't know." Could he make this commitment? Love was a challenging word and Naruto had said it himself: _"as if THE Sasuke Uchiha could ever be in love!"_

Sakura's obvious disappointment showed on her face, as she bit her bottom lip and cocked her head in understanding. Sasuke's arms that were pinning her to the wall fell loose at his sides and as soon as they did, Sakura had run. She turned the handle to the staircase back down into the main school building and ran down them, tears brimming out of the corners of her eyes. How could she be so _stupid_?

He stood on the roof top, still and static, not a single cell in his body daring to move. No thought was processing in his brain. He was overwhelmed with an emotion he had never felt before. It was like a fire was tearing open his chest and bearing the wickedest pain onto his heart. _Ouch._

.&.

He had nothing to say when he went back to lesson. He stayed completely silent for the rest of the day like someone had just pressed the button on the remote for everything just to be mute. When Naruto had asked him if he wanted to skip Chemistry, Sasuke gave no answer and stared right through him. Even when the teacher had asked him if he knew the answer to a certain mathematic equation, Sasuke couldn't say anything. He was spaced out and in a whole different world to everyone else.

Sakura couldn't bear being near him at this time. She was so angry with herself for admitting to something that she thought she was so sure of, but only just now realized that it was all her foolish imagination. She feigned that she was ill to the school nurse, enabling her to go home before the day had even started. But she didn't want to face her parents at that moment in time either.

She decided to go to the only place that she knew no one would care to search for her: the theatre.

She knew the owner, Mr. Richard Roy, from when she did a Performing Arts course when she was younger. She didn't know what was playing, and frankly, she didn't even care right now.

She took a taxi from the front of the school to the downtown theatre where she avoided all the hustling crowds and queues to get in at the front. It seemed that the show (Swan Lake, if you really wish to know) hadn't started just yet.

She made her way to the back entrance and knocked on the door patiently. It only took a matter of minutes before a man, dressed up as a woman in a tutu, answered the door. He/She's face was dipped in make-up in pastel shades. His blusher was excessive and his wig looked a bit too tight on his head. She ignored all of this, and ran up into his arms.

"Remember me, Mr. Roy?" she exclaimed excitedly, hugging him around his neck. She had almost barreled him over, but he managed to keep a good balance, looking slightly confused for a moment, before he processed the tell-tale signs of… pink hair. It had been 5 years since she had last seen him, but it seemed he still remembered her, for which Sakura was extremely pleased.

"I couldn't mistake that pink hair anywhere I go, honey!" the transvestite replied, in a surprisingly high, feminine voice. "Come in, come in!" Mr. Roy ushered Sakura in, closing the door behind her.

She was instantly greeted with a flood of girls in costume, their pink satin pointe shoes tapping lightly on the hard-wood floors. They were each in a flustered disarray and doing last minute stretches. Sakura looked on, albeit a little enviously – she had always wished to be this flexible and to partake in more ballet performances when she was younger. But her parents pulled Sakura out from dancing after they had explained to her that it wasn't 'academic' enough.

"Doesn't everyone look wonderful, honey?" Mr. Roy chimed, skipping over to a beautiful mannequin-esque young woman, who only looked about 20 years of age, yet Sakura could tell she was the star of the show. Mr. Roy fixed the woman's hair, pulling out a few pins here and there and then tightening her bun. She looked confident – Sakura could tell in her fierce black eyes - but her body was slender and graceful, which was perfect for a ballet dancer. "This is Haku, Sakura-hun. He's our own _'Satine'_ – he's simply_magnifique!_"

"He?" exclaimed Sakura, the surprised, and slightly intrigued, expression accidently slipping out of her mouth. However, she blushed a scarlet pink immediately after she had said it, feeling guilty at looking so shocked.

Mr. Roy touched a hand upon her shoulder sympathetically, laughing lightly at the astonished face Sakura had just pulled.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura gushed out, looking back and forth between Mr. Roy and Haku. "I mean – you're just so pretty!" Sakura addressed to Haku, giving him a telling smile.

Haku smiled politely in return. "It's quite all right… Sakura, was it? It's an easy mistake to make, I get it all the time! After all, the majority of performances I partake in are female roles."

'_Wow_,' thought Sakura, '_He even _sounds_ like a girl!_'

"10 MINUTES TILL THE CURTAINS OPEN, PEOPLE!" The hurried, impatient shouts across backstage had started. Sakura remember the first time she had performed to a large audience – the butterflies that flit across her stomach and the nerves that froze her limbs. But she managed to deliver in the end, which sent a feeling of success reeling round her body. It had been the best feeling she had ever felt – till she felt what love felt like… Actually no, she reasoned – she knew that what she had felt for Sasuke had not been love. It was all her stupid imagination getting the better of her. Love wasn't this painful or bitter.

Thinking about everything all over again made Sakura's eyes brim with fresh tears. Mr. Roy saw it all coming and put a comforting arm around Sakura's shoulder, leading her over to a more secluded corner of the theatre. He consoled her with soft words, even though he didn't know the whole story, but thought it better not to ask. He was just there for her, and that was more than Sakura could ask for. She leaned into his muscular arms, and was instantly softened by his baby coos.

"Cry it out, hun," he soothed, rubbing circles on her back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Sakura doing exactly what he said and crying until her tear ducts were dry. "Tell you what, hun," he reasoned, lifting Sakura's chin up to look into his steely eyes, "I'll give you better than front row seats or backstage passes to the ballet performance. What do you think of that?"

Sakura looked at him with a mix of gratitude, mirth and confusion as he led her by the hand up a set of shallow winding steps. They were getting higher, and Sakura could see beams and hanging ropes from every angle. She was slightly frightened now. All she had to prevent from falling to her death was the 2 inch thick of metal footing beneath her and a rusting railing. It was like an eerie scene out of The Phantom of the Opera, where she would be pushed from the very top of the theatre to her suspicious death, and then her story would be published as part 1 of the best-selling novel based on true events: _'Mr. Richard Roy's Theatre Ghosts'_. She shuddered at the thought.

Finally, they arrived at their destination: a seat at the very top of the stage, on a sort of balcony, overlooking all the dancers and the audience without them seeing you. This was undoubtedly the best position to watch a performance in the house.

Mr. Roy kissed her knuckles as she sat down with her legs swinging off the side.

"Bonne journée, mademoiselle!" he whispered in hushed tones with a perfect French accent and pronunciation.

"Bonne journée, Madame!" she whispered back, smiling up at him and giving him that knowing look, one that read, _"I was going to say 'monsieur' but then I remembered that you like to be called 'Madame'."_

She got comfortable in her exclusive seat, wiggling her bum around, testing different seating positions until she had found the right one. Mr. Roy had returned to backstage to help with what he was best at: costume change, make-up and hair.

She couldn't see the audience, as the large red curtain had not yet been pulled back, but she could hear how full the house was. Looking down, she could see the dancers at the side of the stage rubbing resin on the ends of their pointe shoes. They all looked so graceful, with their tight buns and skinny figures. Watching ballet performances were the only thing that could keep away the troubles that plagued her mind every now and again. But she couldn't remember the last time she saw a live show – she had always YouTube-d old Swan Lake recitals.

Suddenly, the introductory music was starting, the curtain was being pulled back, the amount of people in the audience made her breath hitch, as if she was being put in the spotlight even though they couldn't even see her, and it was all so surreal and romantic. If only she had _someone_ to sit here with and share the gorgeousness of it all.

A short and curt cough pulled her attention to her left side, where a tall, lean figure was standing over her. "Is this seat taken?" The timing was impeccable.

Sakura craned her neck and was instantly star-struck by the male who was the exact definition of 'tall, dark and handsome' (although the 'darkness' was more for mysteriousness than for complexion – this guy was pale as!)

Sakura realized she was staring and she inwardly slapped herself out of her reverie.

He looked amused at the cute act, but helped her out of the awkward situation by hastily continuing his proposal. "Pardon me," he started politely, "I don't think we've met. I'm a friend of Mr. Roy's, my name's Itachi Uchiha."

Just when she thought her day couldn't get any worse…

* * *

_False alarm - sorry. This makes it all the more interesting though, you'll have to wait and see as to what's coming ;)_

_Oh, and i also realized I used the word 'skive' in the last chapter. This is, again, British slang, meaning to skip lessons or something like that. Sorry if I use it again but you'll know what it means next time..._


	9. Open Up Your Door

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 9_

_I can't hear your voice no more_  
_I just want to make you smile_  
_Maybe stay with you a while_

_ - Richard Hawley _

* * *

_That's_ where he looked familiar – Sakura could have sworn that his onyx eyes, flawless appearances and elegant clothes were uncannily similar to that of someone else.

She still didn't know what to say. He was starting to look at her in a funny way, but she had good reasons. This kind of thing was beyond her! She didn't know how to act in a situation as the one presented in front of her. So she thought of something any good-hearted female would do – she didn't let the cold-hearted acts of Sasuke rub off on the first impressions of his older sibling. For all she knew, Itachi could be the nicest guy in the world!

She was finally able to squeak out, "H-Hi, I'm Sakura Haruno… erm, have a seat." She waved noncommittally at the space beside her, and he sat down in his sharp suit, dangling his legs over the side, much like how Sakura was sitting.

She looked over at him through her hair, scared to look at him at a direct vantage point. However, when he took a humored glance at her, she startled furiously, blushed, and then turned an over-intent interest to the ballet below her. He could tell that she was bluffing, and he played along with it for a few more minutes, until he turned around to face her. She couldn't _not_ look at him directly now, so she slowly turned her attention to him.

He was smirking - but not in that annoying, arrogant way that the other Uchiha used. It was graceful and oh-so _hot!_ She just wanted to kiss it off his lips rather than punch it off, which was a change, to say the least.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm here?" he said, with a voice like silk.

She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Okay," she easily agreed, "Why are you here? Hang on…" she paused and contemplated for a good second or so. "You're not here to push me to my unfortunate death, are you?" She raised a defined eyebrow, once again imagining the series of events that would happen revolving around her murder case.

He laughed in a deep but refined baritone. "Not quite… Actually, Richard sent me up here because he thought I could help with something. I was here to watch the ballet originally, but Richard called me backstage and said he needed my aid in comforting a, as I quote, 'cute girl with a few troubles here and there but nothing that a good chat can't fix'," he raised an eyebrow. "So… what's troubling you?"

She bit her lip. Did she really _have_ to say to the older brother of the guy that's inflicted those acclaimed 'troubles'?

He was persistent and kept a sturdy gaze on her form. The soft hum of the music was heard in the backdrop and the dancers were pirouetting around the stage. It didn't relax Sakura like it normally would. Instead, it made the moment all the more intense.

She gave up in the end and breathed a long, defeated sigh. "It's heartbreak… or _something like that_," she mumbled quietly, but loud enough for Itachi to hear.

She heard him give a low, almost _'oh, not again'_ kind of hum. "So, who is he?"

Uh-oh. He honestly had to ask that question, didn't he? Sakura's brows knitted together. They were venturing into dangerous territory.

"Erm… actually, you probably don't want to hear this but it's… erm," she stuttered out a few indecipherable grumblings, until she finally had the nerve to say his name, "Sasuke Uchiha – yes, your brother."

"My brother?" he repeated, clarifying the weirdness and sudden awkwardness of the situation.

She bit on her thumb nail and peeked at Itachi's reaction though her lashes. Nodding her head, she added, "I warned you that you probably didn't want to hear it…"

He frowned. "No, it's not that… It's just that, you _do _realize that my baby brother has not got a single decent bone in him, right? He's a womanizer, there's no doubt about it."

Now it was Sakura's turn to frown as she gained the ammunition she needed to confidently look at him in the eyes. "Over the last few weeks, I've found more 'decent bones' in him than I have ever found in any other guy before!"

He lifted a well defined eyebrow, before breaking out in a small grin. "You really do love Sasuke, don't you?"

She was momentarily shocked beyond imagination, and she gaped at him with her mouth slightly ajar.

"It was a test," he continued, the smile still firmly in place. "I needed to see if you are what you say you are…"

"Wow," she whistled lowly, careful not to be too loud – she didn't want to attract the attention of the huge audience below her. "I fell right into that one, didn't I?"

He gave her a polite smile. "I think I can work out the whole story now…"

She raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Hit me."

"Well, it all started as unexpected talking, which grew into talking all the time, meeting up, and starting to develop feelings. But you confessed yours to him, he didn't say the 3 words back, and now, here we are..." He looked at her with a sympathetic but triumphant look. "How did I do?"

"Pretty much right on the dot." A sense of sadness filled her eyes as she was reminded of all the things that had happened.

"Sorry," he apologized, suddenly feeling a twang of guilt, "I'm being a little insensitive. I just… never thought I'd see the day when Sasuke would ever love a girl as nice as you. It just makes me so proud as his older brother."

Wow. Where did this guy come from? If you looked up 'chivalry' and 'charm' in the Oxford dictionary, his picture would be listed directly under.

"But didn't you hear anything you said? He doesn't love me. He rejected me, and I feel like such an idiot." She hung her head in shame. This conversation was getting nowhere and she just felt like the depression was overwhelming her now.

"And now I begin to doubt if you really know Sasuke as well as you give the impression of," he said with an amused glint to his dark eyes. "Isn't it obvious? He's bluffing. He only rejected you because he's confused about the word 'love'. It's something that no one's been able to give him before in his entire life and that makes him _scared_."

Now this was fascinating. It piqued Sakura's curiosity and her ears picked up.

"If Sasuke's intimidated about anything, he rejects it and then acts like nothing's wrong. Of course, something is wrong, and in this case, it's that he loves you."

She scrunched up her nose, still not quite believing it, until he started evidencing all that he had proposed.

"Now that I think about it, recently, he's been so spaced out and on edge around the house." He looked at her with an impressive smirk. "Could this be your doing?"

Sakura smiled lightly, but shrugged her shoulders, giving nothing away. She liked the knowledge that she could have possibly made him act that way.

"I tell you what," Itachi said, shuffling a bit closer to Sakura now that he knew her better, "My parents are throwing this _thing_ they do every year. Why don't you come along and have a good time?"

"That's extremely kind of you, Itachi, but won't Sasuke be there? I don't think I want to be anywhere near him at the moment…"

"What if I'm there too? I'll be your escort, or something like that… stay with you throughout the evening?"

She looked at him with a kind of gratitude shining in her eyes. They had only just met, but it was already like they had been friends for years.

"But what about Sasuke?"

"What about Sasuke?" he repeated with a sleek eyebrow raised, as if daring to defy him. "He can come over and talk to you if he wants but otherwise you're not going to be bothered by him. And if you don't feel like talking to him, then I'll be there to help you with that," he winked at her in a friendly manner.

"You may just be my new best friend, Itachi Uchiha," Sakura said with a huge grin plastered to her face. She hugged him round the neck in a child-like way. He was the big brother she never had…

"You know, he talked about you to me..." Sakura said, now piquing his curiosity.

"What did he say?" Itachi asked, his nosy interest getting the better of him.

"Meh…" she shrugged her shoulders, as if it didn't really affect her, but then added, with a small, cheeky grin, "Weasel."

* * *

_A short one, but delivered in a week, which is pretty record breaking, what with exams and life._

_Connect the dots with the song and the chapter content - if you've seen the Haagen-Dazs advert, that's where I got my inspiration for this chapter :) _

_Youtube it, it's really adorable._


	10. Take Me Out

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 10:_

_And if you leave here_  
_You leave me broken, shattered I lie_  
_I'm just a crosshair_  
_I'm just a shot then we can die_

_ - Franz Ferdinand_

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, where the heroine feels slightly sick in the stomach with the amount of nervous butterflies in her stomach before an event such as the one the Uchiha's were hosting, Sakura wasn't at all fazed. Actually, scratch that… it wasn't that she was undisturbed with the situation of seeing Sasuke and his family, it was more that she couldn't feel _anything. _

Her brain was numb and she had lost all feeling in her fingers, legs and somewhere to the left side of her chest.

Yes, it was the night of the Uchiha family's '_thing'_ – aka, their annual ball in honor of the children's hospice. It was a great cause, but just another lame excuse to get a little Cognac down and pretend that you're drunk enough to start dancing on the tables…

Itachi was going to be picking her up at around 8, but not only was she already ready by 7, but she had also time to be sipping a glass of orange juice, reading a little bit of Jane Eyre and reapply her make-up about 3 times. It was called 'keeping busy'. Sasuke and Sakura hadn't talked since then; had she gotten over him? Maybe, perhaps, possibly, _erm_, no. Was she ever going to admit to herself that she hadn't gotten over him? Never.

She reasoned that she was a strong, independent woman, much like Beyonce, but she just couldn't find it within her to stop caring and thinking about him.

The door knocked at exactly 8pm, plus or minus 1 minute. But the point is, Itachi was here. Sakura pranced to get the door, slamming her Jane Eyre hard-back shut.

"Hi," she said smoothly, greeting Itachi with a breathtaking smile. He stood at the door with a handsome black tuxedo and held out a bouquet of pink peonies with a small smirk that graced his flawless, nigh on godly features. After her comment at the theatre, she was surprised that he had still decided to take her to the ball. He really was understanding and oh-so-handsome.

"Aww, you're sweet," she said with a small amused smile, taking the bouquet and placing it neatly in a vase by the door - her parents had predicted the flowers, thus placed their favorite Wedgewood vase ready with water and flower fertilizer conveniently on a table. Peonies were secretly her favorite flower, but she thought it would be too cliché for her to mention it…

"You look stunning, Sakura," Itachi commented, flicking his eyes over her form. She went all out with her outfit: her dress was vintage Oscar de la Renta from her doting mother, and yes, she would be killed if she ruined it in any way. It was a sheer white shift dress, with three-quarter length sleeves and a gorgeous, simple floral pattern. Her hair was in an intricate up-do that would suit the formalities well, and on her feet were a pair of glass slippers – well, okay, kidding. They were not quite Cinderella, but very close: a pair of Jimmy Choo's that she yet again, borrowed from her mother. Her parents were absolutely thrilled that she had been invited to the Uchiha's annual ball, which is the reason why Sakura kicked her parents out of the house so they wouldn't make a fuss when Itachi Uchiha showed up at their door.

Itachi held out his hand and escorted her to a chauffeur-driven car, in which she gracefully slid in. The car journey was awkwardly silent, with the occasional small talk here and there.

But then Itachi asked a question she didn't really want to answer: "Are you ready to talk to Sasuke?"

Sakura swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. Earlier she had felt nothing, but now that the reality had hit her, a wave of anxiety attacked her body. "I thought I was… but now I'm only just realizing how much it hurts." She looked up at him in embarrassment; admitting to something like that was hard.

He gave her a sympathetic look, but it didn't last long until the car smoothly stopped and the car door was opened by the chauffeur. "We're here, Sir," the chauffeur politely said in an upper-class English accent, dipping his hat low in respect.

"Thank you, Jenkins," Itachi replied, addressing the old driver by his last name. As Sakura got out as well, Itachi curled her arm around his and walked into the grand hall looking like glamorous A-listers.

The ballroom was situated in a large mansion that the Uchiha's had rented out for the evening and early morning. It was spacious and elegant, with a high ceiling, water-color paintings and flowers dotted everywhere. Only half an hour in, and there were already couples twirling round the room to Mozart being played by the small group of violinists.

Sakura, however, was dragged by Itachi to 'meet the parents'. On the first date – not so cool… Well, if you could call it a 'date'.

"Mother, Father, this is Sakura Haruno," Itachi introduced with a friendly, slightly unfamiliar, smile to his parents.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," his father said, in a rather stiff, business-like tone.

However, his mother was much more open, and put on a caring, maternal smile. "When Itachi told us he was bringing someone tonight, we hadn't expected a girl so pretty such as yourself," she complimented, to which Sakura cringed slightly in modesty. "Such a beautiful date you have, Itachi."

But Sakura had to stop her right there. "Oh! We're not-"

And that's where Itachi came back into the equation. "Yes, she is quite beautiful, isn't she, Mother?" He looked at her with his eyebrows raised, and gave her a deep knowing look, that said something along the lines of _'go along with it'_.

Sakura silently gritted her teeth. She didn't want any misunderstandings, but Itachi was sure making that hard for her…

His parents excused themselves to talk to other guests, before Itachi turned to face her with a sincere look on his face. "I know what you're thinking – we're not here as dates, but my parents wouldn't have accepted anything le-…"

His voice trailed off suddenly, and his eyes weren't so focused on her anymore, but something _behind_ her instead. She looked around in confusion, until her breath hitched and she whipped back round again, as if her eyes had been burnt.

_He_ was here! And he wasn't exactly alone. He walked into the grand hall with 2 other girls latched onto each of his arms, resembling a low-key pimp. His suit wasn't exactly purple with fur trimmings, but a simple D&G black tux, but the way in which he walked into the room was slightly overdramatized. Everybody sensed his strong presence and turned to see the infamous Uchiha in flesh. Sakura could see from the corner of her eye, his father rolling his eyes and looking positively fed up by his son's behavior.

However, Sasuke didn't let the intense moment get to him, as he let his eyes wonder around the room with one of his annoyingly arrogant, yet supremely handsome, smirks – that was until he spotted that familiar head of pink hair amongst the crowd. His gaze drifted towards her and her eyes instantly widened. They held their stares for a few seconds, but he was the first to break it. He turned his eyes to the floor, as an unknown, unfamiliar feeling washed over him.

She quickly diverted her gaze in embarrassment, as her cheeks flushed bright pink. Seeing Sasuke again brought her back to that mortifying moment of weakness on the school roof. The feeling was overwhelming and she already felt the tears coming back to her eyes. In the blurring of the moment, she could only faintly hear Itachi's soft voice, but nothing was processing except for 'get out of here now!'

In those few seconds, she experienced the inexplicable suffocation of forgetting how to breathe. Therefore, she hightailed out the room, with her dress partially flowing behind her and her make-up on the verge of slipping down her face. What a glamorous exit!

The doors out of the ballroom flew open but no one had their attention diverted to the girl that ran out. Instead it was on the guy who followed after her.

She had run out of the mansion altogether and now stood on the steps at the front entrance. Her legs could barely keep themselves up and her breathing was ragged with telltale signs of being on the edge of crying. She hadn't meant for things to get so emotional, and so theatrical, but when faced with Sasuke again, she just couldn't contain it. It was stupid of her to have even of come, and she found that out the hard way.

But as she was dwelling on her actions, she didn't hear the footsteps that were hurriedly coming closer. The person was running after her, and when he got near enough to touch her, he reached out a hand and pulled on her slender arm. She whipped around so fast that it took her a few good seconds for her to process that it was Sasuke Uchiha standing before her.

His hair was slightly disheveled from running, but despite that, he still looked as handsome as ever. But she hadn't mentally prepared herself for a face-to-face meeting so soon, which caused her to have a loss of speech and a slight internal panic attack.

"Y-You," Sasuke's voice shook with nerves at first, but he cleared his throat abruptly, closed his eyes for a second and tried again with more confidence, "You look beautiful, Sakura…"

Sakura didn't know what to say. So she decided to say nothing at all and instead took a deep breath in and back out, as to calm her growing nerves.

Under a dark moon-lit sky and amongst the fantasy fairy lights weaved around the building that they stood before, Sasuke had never been fully aware of the fact that 'what if Sakura didn't want to talk'. There was an awkward pause of silence, and Sasuke didn't know if he had said the right thing… But Sasuke knew that unless he could say those 3 small words, 8 syllables, starts with 'I', and ends with 'love you', Sasuke would always say the wrong thing.

Sakura couldn't tell what he was thinking but the number of different expressions that flit across his face was uncountable.

He went for the easiest way to express his feelings, albeit with a bit of stuttering… "Sakura… I'm so sorry. I mean, I really, really like you – no."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. He was still too chicken to say it. But, wait…

"No, actually, I really do_ think_ I love you…" His brows furrowed. It sounded right on his tongue, except for one teeny, tiny detail.

"Say it again, Sasuke…" Sakura asked, looking into his eyes for the truth.

He recited his line with more confidence. "I think I love you."

Sasuke didn't get what Sakura was getting out. So she repeated her requisition with a small, amused smile now adorning her dainty features. She cupped his cheeks lightly and stood on tip-toes to rise to his height. "You just 'think'…?" she hinted and raised her eyebrow with a light hilarity.

Ah, he caught on to her rather obvious hint. He smiled back at his own obliviousness and looked to the ground for a moment to find the right footing. "Okay, take three," he said, with amusement. "Sakura Haruno… I _love_ you. So, erm… will you be my… girlfriend?" he asked, abashed and pink with embarrassment. He had never committed to a full-time relationship, and he knew that it was slightly out-of-the-blue, but he understood that a relationship with Sakura was going to be different.

Not only was saying the correct 3 words of affection spreading a huge grin across her face, the question to be Sasuke's girlfriend just sent her world spiraling into a world of joy.

She nodded her head as a sign to say 'yes', with a happiness that she hadn't felt in a while. He _loved_ her! They were surely making history: the last time she checked, Uchiha's very rarely love.

He smiled at her and pecked her lightly on the nose. But as their foreheads were touching, he reached in for a breathtaking kiss on her supple lips that made her breath hitch.

Yes, under the moon, the stars and the gods, on the steps of the front porch of a fantasy mansion, with fairy lights glowering like fireflies, Sakura had one of her ultimate cliché stories become a reality. And boy, did she feel like the luckiest girl in the world, and him, the luckiest boy in the universe.

* * *

_:/ Was it all a bit quick and hurried, or was it okay? I was trying to prolong them getting together for a little bit longer, but i knew readers would soon get a bit impatient..._

_My christmas wish: to find a suitable guy and to live a fairy tale... wishful thinking gets you nowhere though. Sigh, how depressing._


	11. Trouble Is A Friend

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 11_

_So don't be alarmed _  
_If he takes you by the arm_  
_I won't let him win_  
_I'm a sucker for his charm_

_ - Lenka_

* * *

"Should we go back in?" Sakura asked, as the couple strolled around outside, holding hands.

He gave a low groan and replied with a childishly whiny tone, "Do we really have to? Let's just have a nice talk out here and enjoy the night." He slid an arm around her waist as to persuade her and she reacted by snuggling closer to him.

"I would love that as much as you, but I think a lot of people would be asking where you are…" Sakura looked up at him through her eyelashes – she was smug at the knowledge that she was shorter than him, as to scientific stats (or something very similar), when the girl was shorter than the guy, there was a 70% higher chance of them succeeding as a couple than if the guy were to be shorter than the girl. And she also knew that 88% of statistics are made up on the spot…

"I just don't want to talk to the family…" he muttered stubbornly.

"You're such a pussy, Sasuke. If I'm there to hold your hand, will it make you feel better?" Sakura asked in her mocking maternal voice.

He pouted immaturely, but nonetheless he nodded his head lightly and replied, "I think my dad will like you better than he likes his own son…"

Although Sakura was sensitive to the lack of love that Papa Uchiha showed Baby Uchiha, she couldn't help but to curiously ask, "Really?"

"Of course!" Sasuke enthusiastically said. He wasn't mad, but instead proud of the perfect girlfriend he had. "Look at you – you're beautiful, smart and charming," he smiled at her and she rewarded him with a hug at the very complimentary speech. However, he turned into a buzz kill straight after he had just climbed in Sakura's good books, as he continued to inquisitively ask, "So… do I have to, er, hand you over to Itachi when we get back in?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, yeah," she stated sarcastically. "Because then you two can both leave with who you entered with, which means you get to exit with those two bimbos." She smugly concluded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Touché," he commented, "but those 'two bimbos' were girls that Naruto picked to hang off my arms during the evening, to just... you know, annoy my dad."

"And Itachi," Sakura continued from where Sasuke ended, "was just my escort for the night. He invited me to this thing, which you should be glad for, otherwise we wouldn't be here right now… together."

Sasuke nodded understandingly. "So I was just overeating a bit, wasn't I?"

She winced slightly before replying with good humor, "Just a little bit…"

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically. He didn't want to have that obsessive, overprotective boyfriend streak in him all the time.

"I'm sorry too," she apologized, mainly for starting the whole skeptical debate with him. "Now let's go back inside. And this time round, you can introduce me to your parents as _your_ date, not your brother's." She smiled at him, and they walked back in at a steady rate.

When they entered back into the ballroom, the party looked just as dull as it had when they had left.

But before Sasuke and Sakura could make it towards his parents, Itachi had interjected in between their path and held out a hand for his brother to shake.

"Sasuke, it's been a while, what with me at college and all that," Itachi smoothly said, finding it very hard to keep a mocking tone out of his voice. He always had this very slight temptation to just ridicule Sasuke and pull his strings, mainly because Itachi knew that Sasuke hated him, probably a consequence of Itachi being much freer in the Uchiha household. His father doted more on Itachi than on his little brother and the word 'dream' was a more prominent word in Itachi's vocabulary, just like how 'sex' or 'drugs' was in Sasuke's.

Sasuke grimaced internally, but took Itachi's hand nonetheless. He shook it with a firm masculinity, and replied back with an equally smooth, yet cold voice, "Itachi, it's good to see you." Obviously he was lying.

Sakura observed the tense interaction between them, whilst nervously biting her nail, until Itachi finally took notice of her.

"And Sakura, I don't appreciate it when my date runs out on me," he smiled at her, but then leaned into her ear, much to the annoyance of Sasuke. "I see that everything went well with my little brother," he whispered breathily, directing a rather obvious gaze to their adjoined hands. He leaned back out to observe them from a more distant angle, and yes, he thought they looked cute, but something needed to be done about the male counterpart. Sasuke didn't deserve a girl like Sakura, now that he thought about it. Maybe, just maybe, she would be much happier with a more mature guy, with longer hair and a more rugged stature…

Sakura giggled nervously, directing an anxious gaze at Sasuke to see how he reacted to Itachi's 'playful banter'. "Yeah, Sasuke and I are going out now," she replied, smiling at him in gratitude, thanking him for escorting her to the ball.

He raised a sleek eyebrow, and internally thought that he wouldn't have invited Sakura if he knew that she was going to progress so much with her relationship with Sasuke. "Little brother," he addressed sardonically, "Can I talk to you for a second?" He led the way to a desolate corner of the room and looked his sibling in the eye gravely.

"Are you serious about Sakura, Sasuke?" he asked, all mockery off of his face.

Sasuke buried his hands in his pockets, before looking his older brother straight in the eye. "I love Sakura," he said simply, but with the most feeling Itachi had ever heard from him.

Itachi somberly nodded his head in understanding and put a hand upon Sasuke's shoulder in an almost fatherly way. "So you're not just playing with her feelings like all those other girls that you bring home?"

"No!" Sasuke said, frustrated, shrugging off Itachi's hand. "I don't know if you've noticed, Itachi," he bitterly spat out, "But Sakura is _different_; she makes me a better man. And although we've only been going out for an hour or so, I have a really good feeling about her."

"That feeling you talk about… it's not lingering in your loins, is it?" Itachi jokingly countered, knowing that it would hit Sasuke where it hurt.

Sasuke didn't think that Itachi could ever become so immature about something like this. He simply scoffed and walked away back to Sakura, muttering a small, but audible, '_jerk_'.

Itachi had successfully managed to piss Sasuke off, and he smiled arrogantly. But he was far from over, he thought, as he picked up a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, downed it, and then placed it neatly back on the waiter's tray. With a little bit more confidence, he walked over to his parents, who were at the far end of the ballroom, and stated with a calmness that branded him an Uchiha, "Have you heard, mother," he said, instantly grabbing the attention of his gossip-queen-of-a-mum. "Sasuke stole my date…"

His mother looked slightly confused for a few seconds before she took a cautious glance around the room to find her youngest son, and pin pointed him slow dancing in the centre of the room with the pretty pink-haired companion Itachi had initially been with.

She furrowed her brows before turning to Itachi again. "Is he-"

"-In love?" Itachi quickly interrupted. "I think he is, mother, or so he says."

Mama Uchiha's eyes widened with surprise, and then they welled up, on the verge of tears. She put a sentimental hand to her heart, as she let her motherly pride get the better of her. "Itachi," she gripped his arm, as if she was going to faint from the happiness.

Meanwhile, Itachi looked pretty annoyed at the concept of his mother leaning on him for support.

"But how did she end up with Sasuke?" his mum asked, looking more confused than before. But then a revelation hit her, and she added with stupendous vigor, "I wonder if that's the reason he's been acting so off as of late… He really _is_ in love, isn't he, and has been for so long! Why didn't I notice sooner? I'm a terrible mum, Itachi, aren't I?" Now she had reached that level where all panic was evident on her botoxed face.

Itachi shook his head tirelessly to reassure his mother. "Why don't you talk to the happy couple? Take dad with you," he softly spoke, urging her on with a light push on her back. She nodded joyously, before dragging her husband to where Sakura and Sasuke were now getting drinks.

Itachi couldn't deny that he had something planned, because whilst his parents were talking to Sasuke about his new girlfriend, they had coincidentally managed to leave Sakura on her own, to which Itachi swooped in and chivalrously asked her to dance. She blushed prettily and warned him that she really wasn't a very good dancer, but accepted nonetheless. She wasn't going to bare another minute at a lifeless party on her own.

They twirled around the room like what they had seen at the Swan Lake ballet, but as they were absorbed into a romantic's world, they were being watched by a seething younger Uchiha. His parents were watching too but as a passive audience who really weren't taking it personally. Sasuke stalked over to the dancing couple, and with the most politeness he could muster, tapped on Itachi's shoulder and asked boyishly for permission to take his place.

There was a slow nod and then it was Sasuke's turn to twirl around the room with Sakura.

"He's trying to get into my head…" Sasuke uttered into Sakura's ear as they were dancing.

She pulled back slightly and gave him a confused look.

"He's dancing with you to make me jealous," he seethed with gritted teeth and a cautious look at his brother behind one shoulder.

"Aren't you just over-reacting a bit, Sasuke?" she asked, smiling at him piteously. She took a quick glance over at Itachi and saw him calmly sipping at another flute of bubbly with a (suspiciously fake) smile that was directed at the couple. "See?" Sakura said, ignorant to what Itachi was really thinking.

However, although Sasuke wasn't great at reading his older brother, at this moment in time, Itachi's thoughts were practically transparent.

Sakura could feel Sasuke's biceps tensing in aggravation, and she immediately stopped the dancing. They stood static in the middle of the floor, as Sakura pecked him lightly on the lips. "You trust me, right?" she asked, making sure to hold his gaze.

"Of course," he replied, "It's _him_ I don't trust…"

"He's your brother, Sasuke."

"Precisely," Sasuke spat out.

Sakura shook her head hopelessly. "Well, if you trust me, you know I wouldn't possibly do anything that would mislead your trust. So just calm it, okay?" she concluded with a frustrated tone.

He held up his hands defensively, before apologizing lightly and swooping in for another longer kiss. However, Sakura pulled away from his hold and unwrapped his firm arms that were previously on her waist. "You know what, I'm going to, erm, get some air…" she stated, not making eye contact with her boyfriend. She was mad at him for even implying that he thought she was going to do something with Itachi that would compromise their relationship.

She walked away, but a sudden bout of déjà vu hit her, as Sasuke grabbed her wrist to stop her from going anywhere, just like a few hours ago when they were on the front steps to the mansion. "I'll come with you," he offered, trying to make peace; he knew that Sakura wasn't too happy, but just didn't want to make a scene at the party.

She pulled her arm away and declined coldly.

He let her go out on the isolated balcony, whilst he furiously made his way over to his smug older brother, who was sipping on his sixth glass of Moët.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Sasuke furiously asked.

Unaffected, Itachi simply looked through Sasuke with his smile still in place. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he stated obliviously.

"Like hell you don't," Sasuke replied crudely. "I can't even distinguish if you're doing this for me or for Sakura."

Now Sasuke had his attention, and Itachi turned to him with an indecipherable look in his eye. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly whilst narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"I mean," Sasuke repeated, "that just because you invited Sakura tonight and just because she was your 'date' at the start of the evening, does not mean you have to ruin our real relationship that we have going on now. It's like you _have something for her_ – my girlfriend!"

Itachi looked offended for a second before laughing it off good-humouredly. "Your 'girlfriend' is frigid," he raised an arrogant eyebrow at Sasuke. "She can get to first base but it'll take at least 6 months until she's ready to go further… I pick mine more carefully."

He chuckled and then walked away, leaving an extremely insulted little brother behind. He offended Sakura and that enraged Sasuke more than anything. He frowned, before it slowly eased out into a more confused expression and then the realization began to dawn on Sasuke. A relationship with Sakura meant no sex or touching for at least 6 months!

He had never realized how much commitment it took to make a relationship work and he didn't know if he was just going passionately insane right now, but although he knew that he couldn't live without sex, he also knew that he couldn't live without Sakura.

So, in the end, it was sex or Sakura, and Sasuke decided like an adult that he would keep his girlfriend before anything. Itachi wasn't going to get the better of him; his attempt at trying to throw Sasuke off failed and Sasuke walked out after Sakura onto the balcony with a smug grin thrown behind his shoulder at Itachi, who inwardly gritted his teeth, defeated and dejected.

Sasuke sneaked up behind Sakura, who was standing holding onto the balcony rails looking up at the stars that were gradually appearing one by one. He wrapped both of his strong arms around her petite waist and kissed her affectionately behind her ear and whispered, "I love you, Sakura."

She smiled lightly and turned around to face him. "Sasuke, I _can_ trust you, can't I?"

Obviously she had been consumed in her thoughts whilst alone for the very first time that evening. She didn't exactly know why she asked this, when she could clearly tell that he was devoted to their relationship. She guessed it was because she knew all about his flirtatious past. After their first semi-argument, she needed to make sure that they had the right trust foundations to build a stronger bond between them.

Although Sasuke hated to admit it, he knew exactly what Sakura was talking about. "Of course you can trust me, Sakura." He held her hands in both of his, and kissed her passionately on the lips; a seal of his loyalty. He meant every word. He wouldn't dare cheat on Sakura. Now that he had found his goddess, Aphrodite, he wasn't letting go so easily.

She smiled, and for the second time that evening, she said with an easy confidence, "I love you, Sasuke." And this time, she was very, very, _very_ sure, and no Itachi would get in the way.

* * *

_Yuck, what's with the overrated romance? I'm kidding, I'm a sucker for a good cliche._

_If i have time, i'm thinking about a christmas one shot, but you really can't write anything original when everything remotely festive has already been taken..._

_Also: Thank you to kagomes heart, who inspired me with her fun plot suggestion :) _


	12. Embers

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 12_

_Through all of the devilish things we do...  
__The facts and the figures,  
__They overwhelm a stifle,  
__Everything that you thought you knew  
__So tiny that they blow away like dust_

_ - Just Jack_

* * *

When Sakura was safely deposited back to her house by Sasuke, the former couldn't help but think of the legendary what-if scenarios. It racked her brains and sent her little self in a frenzy of confusion and depression.

She made it to her room without being attacked by her parents for all the details; it seemed that they were already asleep (_was it really that late_ – Sakura thought). But as she sat cross-legged in her pajamas, freshly come out from the shower, she decided to order her brain into sensible categories: what-ifs about Sasuke and her, what-ifs about Ino, and what-ifs about her parents.

She nervously bit on her nail, not knowing where to start, so she did the most logical thought procession that she could think of; she got out her notebook, ripped the last page out, pulled out a Biro and started to list everything that was confusing her.

Firstly, with her and Sasuke – could she really be in a relationship with a guy who was so dependent on keeping up with his reputation and the way people viewed him? Thinking about it, Sakura thought that if she turned up to school holding hands with Sasuke with her hair tied up in the most unflattering bun and her geek glasses on, was he going to be ashamed of her? But surely she shouldn't change for a guy…? And that's when the two little mascots of her good and bad consciousness appeared on either shoulder. The angel cried out for her to not change, whereas the devil within her was all for changing – there would be nothing wrong with changing something superficial, like appearances… After all, Sasuke loved her for who she was, not what she looked like, so it didn't seem to matter whether she looked like a haggard dork, or if she looked smoking hot in mini-skirts and Dior eyewear.

Secondly, with her and Ino – Sasuke had originally 'loved' Ino, so was she going to be something of a competitor to Sakura? Sakura surely hoped not. They had practically been best friends while they were still in their mothers' wombs and they had vowed when they were only 6 years of age over a chocolate fudge cake and lots of grass stains that they would never let anything get between them. So therefore, Sakura knew that Ino would understand…

There was, of course, the slight teeny detail of actually _telling_ the best friend. A sleepover was going to be needed to break the news to her nearest and dearest and she organized it for it to be tomorrow.

And as for the small subject of dealing with her parents… Sakura decided that maybe she shouldn't tell them _just yet_.

.&.

There was a knock that sounded through the house, and Sakura pranced down the stairs to answer the door. She opened it and was greeted to Ino standing with a large bag on her shoulder and a small smile playing on her lips.

They hugged and exclaimed in girlish, excited cries just how much they missed each other, despite it only being a few days since they were apart.

When they finally reached Sakura's room, Sakura closed the door gravely, and the air around them suddenly became much more serious. They both sat cross legged on the bed and stared at each other for a while, but Sakura started off the conversation.

"Ino, you know you and I have been best friends since the beginning of time, so let's not let anything get in our way, okay…"

Ino was personally baffled and lost at what Sakura was trying to get at, but she waited until her best friend continued.

Sakura had spent hours trying to practice her lines for the moment when she would have to tell Ino that she was going out with Sasuke. She had tried to prepare herself mentally in all the ways possible and she thought she was as ready as she was ever going to be, but as she sat facing Ino, a pool of dread erupted in her stomach and she suddenly felt extremely nervous. She fidgeted with her fingers, but the long silence that sat snugly between them told Sakura that she had to hurry with her confession.

Erm… how would she start? Her mind was in a jumble and her heart was racing, she had never been this nervous about anything in her life and she wasn't even completely clear as to why she was so worked up-

"Sakura!" Ino said, almost shouted. "I've said your name close to a million times… Are you alright?" she looked at Sakura with worry wrinkles in her forehead, but there was still that panic that resided in Sakura.

"Ino… I'm going out with Sasuke!" Sakura shouted out suddenly; she couldn't have kept all that tension in her for one second more. Sakura forced her eyes to keep shut, as she waited, dreading the response, whatever that may have been.

And to make matters worse, there was only a thick silence that followed…

Except for when Ino broke it with a high shrill screaming, followed by an uncountable amount of 'ohmygod's.

Sakura could see the ecstatic expression on Ino's face and knew that she wasn't in deep shit, therefore, her heart rate slowed to its customary pace, and she could finally breathe again.

Several minutes passed before Ino could speak at normal level, and even then it sounded slightly like her voice was strained with the excitement. "I can't believe you're going out with Sasuke! I mean – this is _incredible_!"

That was a completely better reaction than what had gone through Sakura's mind before.

"You're not… mad?" Sakura asked meekly.

"Why the hell would I be mad?" she exclaimed, a grin the size of Jupiter on her pretty little face. "How did you meet in the first place? I didn't know you guys were even speaking!"

Uh-oh, this was the bit when Sakura would have to explain the whole story about how they had started speaking because Sasuke initially liked Ino… Awkward. But she successfully told her without any hesitancy, and just waited yet again for the response.

Ino had been momentarily shocked because, one, she had unknowingly been the thing that brought 2 of her best friends together, and because two, Sasuke had liked her and she had genuinely no clue. It was kind of a buzz kill to the moment before, but Ino completely understood that above all, Sakura needed her one and only best friend. She leaned over to Sakura and gave her the biggest bear hug that Sakura had ever received. "Aw, Sakura, the things you've been through without me!" Ino hugged her tighter, refusing to let go even when Sakura was furiously flaying her arms for oxygen. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to offer you support!"

She let go and Sakura breathed in a massive breath of air before she, too, exclaimed, "And I'm sorry for not telling you about my interaction with Sasuke! I've been trying so hard to keep it a secret, but it was so difficult to not talk to you about it!"

"And I'm also sorry for not telling you about _this thing_!" Ino vaguely continued, with a guilty look plastered to her face.

"What thing?" Sakura repeated, confusedly looking at Ino with an unknowing eye.

"Er… the thing where, you know, I'm going out with Shikamaru now…"

Sakura's jaw involuntary dropped for a second. Stilled with shock, she didn't really process who the said person was, until her synapses finally started to function again.

"As in Shikamaru, the dope head, who's constantly smoking or drinking?" Sakura asked slowly. "The one who has so much potential but threw it all away after his first intake of nicotine…?"

"See," Ino cried, "I didn't want to tell anyone because I knew they'd act this way."

Despite knowing how Shikamaru could be, Sakura took a moment to actually sympathize with her best friend. It was an unusual couple that she couldn't have really seen together, but now that she knew how Ino felt, Sakura could imagine the couple a lot more clearly now.

And then this _thing_ suddenly clicked in Sakura's mind and she abruptly blurted out, "So that's why you were acting so weirdly around Sasuke a few weeks back, wasn't it?" She excitedly remembered the time when Sasuke had called her when she was relaxing in the bath, and he had been upset about how Ino had completely ignored and humiliated him when they were left alone after his friends abandoned him with her.

She repeated the story to a clueless Ino and consequently, Ino reacted by putting a guilty hand to her mouth, before laughing hysterically. As cruel as it sounded, she couldn't believe that Sasuke had been _pissy _enough to end up sharing his feelings, of all things, to another human.

"That must have been before I started going out with Shikamaru," she said through her fits of unadulterated laughter. "I was kind of annoyed around that time whenever Shikamaru left the room when we were finally starting to have decent conversations that lasted more than a few words, so you know…" she eventually trialed off. "But seriously, Sakura, he must have been unknowingly in love with you to have opened up to you like that."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, even if he was, it doesn't even matter anymore, because he's, you know, kind of mine."

They shared a light giggle before Ino suggested a wild idea that ambitiously popped up into her mind. "Hey, why don't we go on a double date?" Ino cried excitedly, bouncing up and down on her bed, just like a little kid.

"Seriously?" Sakura asked incredulously. Although she had been more or less on the same page as Ino thus far, a double date seemed to take it a bit far.

"Com'on!" Ino enthused, "It'll be so much fun! I mean, Shikamaru and Sasuke are already friends, you and me are best, best friends – what could possibly go wrong?"

Sakura thought about it for a second and attempted to come up with an excuse for how it really wouldn't go well, but unfortunately, she couldn't find anything.

"Alright, I'll go," Sakura dejectedly gave in with a light sigh. "But I'm pretty sure Sasuke will _not_ be happy with this!"

Ino carelessly flipped her hair behind her shoulder, before she sarcastically replied with a small victorious smirk, "Boo-hoo…"

.&.

"I am not happy with this Sakura."

Sakura, for the thirtieth time that Sunday, rolled her eyes and just took another sip of orange juice from a flute in the back seat of Sasuke's limousine. They were on their way to a new restaurant that had opened up a few weeks ago, but although Sasuke had recommended the restaurant, had done so bitterly.

He didn't like the thought of double dating. And, what's more, this was the first time they were going to introduce themselves as a couple to anyone but Sasuke's family. He was slightly nervous, but at least it would prepare him for the real live thing tomorrow at school.

"And I'm not happy with you smoking," Sakura countered, taking the burning cigarette out of Sasuke's hand and extinguishing it in the crystal ashtray with a disapproving look and an obvious sign that she was sucking in all of her breath.

"If you don't like smokers so much, why are we going on a double date that involves Shikamaru again?" Sasuke asked, a skeptic eyebrow raised.

"Personally, I'm going for Ino, and not for the dope head, Shikamaru," Sakura reiterated, already making up a foul nickname for the guy her best friend was dating. Why would they be best friends if they weren't a little bit overprotective of each other?

The car pulled up by the entrance and the chauffeur politely opened the door for them to exit. Sakura stepped out of the limo and was immediately greeted with a chivalrous hand extended out for her to be escorted into the building by her boyfriend.

They had made reservations in Sasuke's name, but it seemed like the rest of the party were already seated. They made their way to the table and was already greeted by the first and foremost loved-up signs of Ino's new relationship – they were arguing and debating about which was better: the steak or the fish.

"Wow, the tension at this table," Sakura awkwardly commented, as they got closer to be in earshot.

Ino whipped her head around, quick enough to show that she was obviously mad at Shikamaru. But as soon as she turned to greet her friend, she gasped out loud and instantly stood up to get a better view.

"OMG, Sakura, you look so gorgeous," she dazedly stated, pushing Sakura lightly as an indication to give a quick twirl.

"Thanks, Ino. Sasuke bought me the dress; isn't he a sweetheart," Sakura said, half joking at her sophisticated language.

However, she wasn't joking when she said Sasuke bought her the $900 dress. It was tailor-made from a boutique designer, who was a family acquaintance of the Uchiha's. The floor-length maxi dress was a deep navy shade and the layered, sheer silk material swam around her ankles, and boy, did the silk feel like heaven on her skin. She had also dropped the geek look, and opted for her hair down and her head free of any eyewear. When he had offered to buy her a dress, she had obviously at first declined his charity. But when he told her it would be a gift, and $900 is practically nothing when your family owns the biggest company this side of the world, Sakura eventually gave in – who wouldn't with persuasion techniques that were that smooth?

She politely greeted Shikamaru, who, for once, did not have dilated pupils. He greeted her back with a small, dopey grin, and greeted Sasuke with a manly hug and a pat on the back.

"So let's see you next to each other," Ino happily demanded, grinning up at the unusual new couple.

Sakura and Sasuke awkwardly took a step closer together, as he awkwardly put an arm around her waist, easily satisfying the blonde. She said a quick 'aw' before allowing them a seat at the table.

They sat down and immediately got to talking about the nitty-gritty's on both of their relationships, the women obviously doing most of the talking (and squealing with delight). They hadn't even ordered and yet the men already had their phones out and were silently texting whoever to put them out of their misery.

Both of the males had told their close friends about their new relationship statuses, but whilst some were gradually accepting the facts, there were inevitably the odd few that were still skeptic of the news between Sasuke and Sakura's relationship. That niche little group of people would just have to believe with their eyes when the two of them walked into school the following day holding hands.

Shikamaru got tired of the current conversation and dully announced that he was going to go outside for a smoke. Sasuke, also bored, joined his friend, and although Sakura didn't exactly like Sasuke smoking, she was currently too busy to even notice he had gone.

The women were left at the table, gossiping about everything, but now that they were now longer lonely singletons, Sakura felt that something had changed in her, that was a result of this new rite of passage in her life. It wasn't in her nature to change drastically for someone else, but the feeling of love was so new to her that she didn't know better.

But, all of a sudden, a loud crash behind them snapped them out of their deep conversation. They glanced round abruptly, expecting another typical accident involving a clumsy, young waiter and a hysterical woman, but when they really saw what had happened, Sakura gasped a little in surprise and immediately turned back round again, as if the view had burnt her eyes.

"Sakura?" a familiar voice asked, walking a little closer, ignoring the accident with the waiter just seconds before. "Sakura Haruno," he repeated carefully. "…You can't really pretend to have not heard me…" and then the voice suddenly became much closer, literally as close as to feel those smooth lips brush over the shell of her ear, "…when I'm right here."

She gasped a little at the painstakingly close proximity. She pivoted her head at only a fraction of an angle, and with a straining voice, she meekly replied back, "Hi again, Itachi…"

* * *

_Hi, again. This will probably be my last update before christmas so the authoress would like to wish you all a v. merry christmas :) _

_And thank you for all the reviewers for this fic, because we have now reached 100+ reviews with the last chapter! _

_But alas, this good fortune can't last: i got some constructive feedback on the last chapter about how some people think i've rushed the development between Sakura and Sasuke's relationship, and i'm so sorry if i've ruined the story in any way, but i'm just going to continue on with what I have planned. The thing is though, is that I have loads more disequilibrium plots lined up that will hopefully help in developing the story more, so keep tuned :) _


	13. Camisado

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 13_

_The anesthetic never set in and I'm wondering where _  
_The apathy and urgency is that I thought I phoned in _  
_It's not so pleasant. _  
_And it's not so conventional _  
_It sure as hell ain't normal _

_ - Panic at the Disco_

* * *

"Well, I'm just going to freshen up a bit in the little girl's room," Ino feigned, pushing out her chair to escape from the tense interaction between the newcomer at the table and her best friend.

Sakura tried to plead with her eyes at Ino for her to stay, but Ino successfully ignored her, in which Sakura's begging eyes narrowed suddenly into an icy glare at the blonde's retreating back.

"May I sit for a moment?" Itachi politely asked, gesturing to Ino's seat opposite Sakura's.

_No._

"Yes, of course." She cursed beneath her breath. _'Damn, why do I have to be so frickin' nice?'_

He flicked his eyes noncommittally at the other two seats at the table, and smiled at Sakura with a mockingly sweet alacrity. "Are you here with Sasuke?"

He didn't say it with a jealous tone or a look of contempt, but Sakura had this dreading feeling when she nodded her head in reply.

Although it had never happened before, Itachi suddenly made Sakura feel extremely uncomfortable, like he was throwing gasoline all over her as they talked. It was most likely a factor of Sasuke telling her all about their childhoods in the Uchiha household that got her skin itching. Now she understood why Sasuke despised his older brother so much.

There were stories of a corrupt childhood that Sasuke had grown up with. When he was 6 years old, Sasuke found a wounded bird in the garden and had nursed it back to health, only for Itachi to come along in all his evil glory and to mercilessly break both of the bird's wings again before throwing it in the trash – all in front of a 6 year old Sasuke.

Off went the mask of the good Itachi, but Sakura still couldn't understand _why_ he tries so hard to ruin his little brother's life. And now his intentions for coming over to Sakura whilst Sasuke was absent sent little frightened nerves up and down her spine.

"What are you doing here, Itachi?" she asked, in a neutral tone. Although she now knew all the misfortunes that had befallen Sasuke courtesy of his brother, Itachi didn't know that she knew, and she planned to keep it that way for the meanwhile.

"What does it look like?" He answered the question with another question, even though it was rhetorical - but it still managed to peeve Sakura off.

Itachi no longer held that spell over Sakura that used to turn her into mush whenever she spoke to him. Now he just seemed to be a little… What's the word? _Freaky_.

He had raised a slim mocking eyebrow, before finishing his answer with, "I'm dining out."

"Alone?" Sakura curiously asked, glancing around her quickly to find a mystery woman, or a close friend. However, there was no one that looked like they were accompanying Itachi.

He looked at his watch (noted to be a very expensive, sleek Rolex, just like his younger brother) and then smiled. "I'm 5 minutes early. _My date_ also seems to be running a little late." He had emphasized the words 'my date', as if to subtly say _'Yes, I have a social life outside of taking little girls of my brother's age to dull family events.'_

She feigned a good-natured smile and tweaked her hair a little to pass the awkward silence.

"So…" she said, attempting to get the conversation starting again, "Did Sasuke not tell you he was also going to be here tonight?"

He looked at her skeptically, narrowing his eyes into a thin glare. "Why? Would you rather have avoided me coming here? Do you think I would change my reservation just so I could prevent running into my little brother and his girlfriend?"

Wow. That was more powerful than anything he had ever said. It beat the crap out of all those little inspirational consolations at the theatre. Something rang in the back of Sakura's head, and it sounded spookily similar to her conscience whispering in her ear 'true colors', but just incessantly repeated.

Sakura's face was that of shock, evident in her wide eyes and slightly agape mouth. She was a bit offended that he would ever take that tone with her, considering that they didn't really know each other all that well. She had only asked the question because she was curious. It had no other implications, but clearly, Itachi had completely misunderstood it.

After his little desperate outburst, he coughed awkwardly, before looking down at the white tablecloth, busying his hands with straightening up the cutlery on the table.

And then, just like it all didn't happen, he looked up at her and the corners of his mouth spiked up in a deceivingly charming smile. "Speaking of Sasuke… where is he at the moment?"

It took a while for Sakura to process the question, simply because she had no genuine answer. She could have told the rightful truth and tell him she didn't know where the hell her boyfriend had got to, because, as she was catching up with Ino and having their best friend conversation, Shikamaru and Sasuke had run off somewhere to take cover from the shrill girl screams of excitement – which was actually prominently what the conversation was made up of.

But then, when she stopped to think about it for a second, she asked herself 'what sort of girlfriend would that make me look like?' So she opted for the choice of bluffing her way out of it.

"He went to the toilet."

Her little lie seemed to have worked, as he brushed it off and then stood up to leave.

"I'm sorry we couldn't have talked longer," he said sympathetically, with the worry etched into his face – just not in his eyes.

"Yeah, me too," she lied. "Have a good time with your date."

He simply smiled and then walked away. She turned to slyly watch his back retreating from their table and realized that he hadn't walked across the restaurant to sit at another table with his mystery date, but instead had gone out of the front doors and took a left down the street.

Whilst all this was happening, Ino had come out from the bathroom and sat back down in her rightful seat.

"Whoa, what was all that about?" Ino asked, taking a rather large sip of her red wine that was left untouched at the table since her departure. Yes, they were underage, but that didn't stop the rich kids.

"Ino," Sakura started gravely, biting on her pinkie nail anxiously. "What would you say if I thought Itachi had all the symptoms to be a sociopath?"

* * *

_Happy New Year, to all. Hope you all had a lovely christmas as well, i know i did :) _

_Sorry, this is a short one, but i cba to write more. And yes, there's a deeper, darker meaning to why Itachi has lasted so long in this story._


	14. Resurrection

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 14_

_In a scavenger's glimpse_  
_Then a neon cross shines_  
_And shows us to tread on the line_  
_Of guilt trips_  
_While love grips_  
_The blind_

_ - The Temper Trap_

* * *

"_What would you say if I thought Itachi had all the symptoms to be a sociopath?"_

Ino looked at Sakura incredulously, as if she were the one with the mental illness, and not Itachi. "Are you sure?" she asked skeptically.

"What else could explain the weird behavior?" Sakura replied with a very certain tone.

"But have you _seen_ him? He's frickin' _hot_ - I would!" Ino stated crudely, to which Sakura just looked a bit shocked at the implication Ino had just suggested.

"This is no time to be joking, Ino," Sakura reiterated.

"Who said I was joking?" Ino asked, as she raised a thin eyebrow humorously.

"You have a boyfriend!" Sakura exasperatedly said, now rubbing her temples to soothe out her frustrations.

Ino laughed a little at Sakura's state of wellbeing. Feeling for her best friend, Ino forced herself to be a little more serious concerning this matter and decided to really listen to what Sakura had to say.

Reassuring Sakura that she was, from that point on, not going to joke about Itachi, Ino asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"I read books about this – sociopathic symptoms develop over time as a result of the environment in which they were brought up in. I don't really know all the details of their home life, but it seems that Itachi grew up with _something_ that upset him. Sociopaths often seem overtly charming, but apparently, they can act and lie like a pro. The sociopathic traits lie beneath the surface but having that little talk with Itachi, as well as all the horrific childhood tales Sasuke told me, made me suddenly realize how many of the boxes he ticks: he's impulsive, ego-centric, lacks emotions, manipulative…" Sakura ticked off all she said with her fingers, adding a few that were also relevant that she thought up in the moment.

Ino thought about the information she just took in. She hummed a little in thought, before stating, "Okay, to be honest, all those symptoms you just mentioned defines _all_ guys, not just Itachi – actually, that's a lie, we're definitely talking about _Uchiha guys _in particular."

"Are you calling my boyfriend a sociopath?" Sakura asked incredulously, her mouth gaping open in shock.

"Hey, I'm just saying…" Ino defensively countered.

"No, Sasuke _cannot_ be a sociopath. Even if the symptoms are hard to spot over their charming countenance, knowing the genius that I am, I definitely would have noticed. You know, now that I think about it, I did consider it the first time I talked to him…"

Ino's two eyebrows lifted slightly. "Interesting…"

"But then he genuinely said he loved me. There's no faking the emotion he showed me," Sakura stated, twirling a lazy strand of pink hair around her finger, as she recollected that specific memory. "Anyway, the thing is," she suddenly said, becoming much more serious as she straightened her back and sat up in her seat smartly, "Itachi comes off as having a much more prominent pattern of sociopathic traits in the time I've known him. But as for the outcome that he wants at the end of all this… well, I haven't the slightest clue."

"Are you going to tell Sasuke? After all, Itachi is his brother."

Almost immediately, Sakura replied with a sharp, "No!" She leaned in further to the table, so she was closer for Ino to hear her stern words. "Whatever happened at this table in the last 20 minutes stays away from the ears of everyone, including Sasuke and Shikamaru!"

Ino twisted her face a bit at the mention of keeping a secret away from her boyfriend, but Sakura threatened to take away all of Ino's Chanel possessions, as well as her Fendi purse, if she dared to tell.

And just at her last words, Sasuke and Shikamaru came back to the table, completely oblivious to the conversation that had just been spoken. And, of course, Ino was quiet at the new knowledge she had just received, instead joyously enthusing, "Let's order!"

.&.

"So, it's a date?" Sakura asked, cuddling closer to Sasuke's side. It was a chilly morning as they walked through the busy streets on a pilgrimage to the nearest Starbucks in search of a holy vanilla latte.

He squeezed her waist a little tighter and replied with a happy, "Yes - our first romantic one without Ino or Shikamaru, or anyone else for that matter. Just you and me… and my home-made cooking."

"Wow, it really feels special when you put it that way," she commented, looking up at him with a small smile. "Have any of your other girlfriends tasted your cooking?"

"Not one of them deserved such a luxury."

"Good," she replied simply, but extremely satisfied. Inside, her heart skipped a small beat at the concept of being properly alone in Sasuke's house in the middle of a romantic date. Her mind couldn't help but to picture some _inappropriate_ images, as she tried hard to hide her blush, but in all honesty, she knew she wasn't ready for such a commitment just yet. Their relationship was still in its early stages and she didn't want it to end up circling around the "_act of love", _otherwise known as shallow, insignificant sex. Their first, official date would signify an important milestone in their relationship, Sakura concluded. She also liked how Sasuke would go through all the effort to make it a perfect evening.

.&.

On the evening of their date, Sakura had decided she was going to dress and look smart, as they had both agreed to make something of the night. She was thinking that he was planning a candlelit dinner filled with some romantic, cheesy music by Sinatra. It sounded perfect, and would suit her maroon knee-length dress perfectly, which she managed to buy in the middle of a sale. It was sensual, but made her look intelligent and sophisticated.

The streetlights were lit as she entered the car waiting outside of her house that Sasuke had sent to pick her up in. The ride was awkward as she tried to make small talk with the unresponsive chauffeur who seemed to stick to his duties like glue. But she was distracted as the Uchiha's house suddenly came into view. It towered over the small Mercedes she was sat in and she swallowed a rather nervous lump down her throat, feeling ominous butterflies attack her stomach. She had never seen such a grand house as the one she was about to enter into.

She exited the car as it came to a stop just outside of the steps that led to the front door. Saying a quick thanks in gratitude to the driver, she grabbed her small clutch and ran up the steps excitedly, expecting Sasuke to open up the door and claim her in his arms before saying that she was 5 minutes early, but he didn't really mind.

But what really happened was that her mobile started to ring and vibrate in her clutch just as she approached the top step. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sakura." It was Sasuke and he sounded pretty urgent. "I know it's our night tonight, but my parents dragged me out the house last minute to go to some company conference and I didn't get a chance to call you until now. But the thing is, I'm just going to be late by about half an hour, but I've left the key under the doormat so make yourself comfortable until I get back. All the workers were dismissed for the rest of the night, so there'll be no one else in."

She frowned slightly, but hesitantly agreed to just go in and wait around for him to come back. She hung up and put her phone back into her bag, before reaching down and feeling under the doormat. She felt hotness wipe over her cheeks, as if she were playing a part as a criminal trying to break in, but before she knew it, her fingers came in contact with a small metal object. She successfully pried it into the hole and let herself in silently. The hallway was well lit, spotless and impeccably beautiful. It had an authenticity that lingered in the artwork and sculptures. She examined them all with her expert eye, as her heels clicked on the marble flooring.

She didn't exactly know which way she was going, as the house must have been ten times the size of her own abode. But she somehow managed to find Sasuke's room after climbing the luxurious starcase.

She could tell that the room she entered was Sasuke's because the first thing she saw when she peeked into his room, was a picture of him and her taken in a casual photo booth hung up with Blu-tack on his walk-in wardrobe door. She walked in cautiously and noticed that Sasuke wasn't exactly the cleanest person in the world. His large room was covered with clothes scattered on the floor and she could spot an abandoned PSP lingering on top of a stack of old car magazines. She tried her hardest to dodge in and out of the obstacles and made it as far as his bed. She sat down on the edge uncomfortably, feeling a foreign emotion from being in the bedroom of another person from the opposite sex.

But despite that, she did what Sasuke told herself to do and made herself comfortable. Lying face down onto his soft 900 thread count Egyptian cotton bed sheets, she picked up an edition of The Da Vinci Code lying on his bedside table and started to flick through it whilst she waited for Sasuke.

But upon reaching only the third chapter, the front door was heard to open slowly but forcefully shut again. She burst up from her lying position, completely forgetting the book and her clutch, and ran out the room and down the winding staircase.

"Sasuke, is that you?" Sakura asked, excited at his return. But as she reached the bottom step, she almost tripped over her two feet as she saw the form of, not Sasuke, but his older brother.

He looked stoic, like he had expected her alone in his house. Neither moved, breathed or said a word, and Sakura could practically hear her own heartbeat thump inside her own chest. She was afraid to be alone with him after figuring out that he was mentally unstable.

As if his empty expression hadn't even occupied his face, his lips suddenly curled into a sickeningly sweet smile, as his eyes crinkled in satisfaction. "This is unexpected, Sakura."

She took a step back at his greeting, fully knowing that his charm was oozing with lies.

"What do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, the grin still firmly in place. He took a step forward, giving off the impression that he was just being courteous, but Sakura didn't want him to be anywhere near him. She gently took another step back, making sure he didn't catch on to her fright.

"I-I'm actually waiting for Sasuke, who'll be back anytime soon now," she said, cursing at herself for letting her words waver slightly.

She emphasized that Sasuke would be returning soon, but Itachi took no notice of this and instead contented himself with backing Sakura closer to the wall.

But then she couldn't go any further as her back hit something solid. She was trapped and Itachi wasn't stopping in his tracks. She swallowed and tensed up, but she didn't expect that his arm would shoot out and take her by the neck.

He was suddenly as close to her as he had ever been, his breath ticking around her jaw, as he lifted her up the wall with just one hand. She felt the air leave her lungs in one gasp of shock, and her eyes widened further into perfect circles. But what really made her bones cold beneath her skin, was that he still had that annoying fake grin on his face, almost like it had been carved into his face like a Chelsea smile.

His face relaxed but his jaw tensed, as he spat out with his teeth gritted, "You whore. You're not worthy of my little brother. I thought the idiot would soon throw you out like all those other girls, but it seems like you've got him dancing in the palm of your hand."

She looked down at him with a silent plead in her watery eyes to let her go. She couldn't breathe, his grip was too strong. She tried to kick her legs about, but the energy needed just made her body weaker than it already was.

It seemed that Itachi had something of a twisted, perverse brother complex. The mask was off and even the best of his lies weren't able to cover up the murderous odor lingering on his body.

"Knowing women, you're just going to screw Sasuke around for his money, pretend that you love him, and then break his fucking scrawny heart, killing him with that _thing_ called 'heartbreak' in the process," Itachi said, with such contempt in his expression that Sakura felt the life being sucked out of her. Her vision started to blur and little dots of black were invading her eyes.

However, she managed to croak out a single word, muffled, but still just barely audible. "_Why?_"

His eyes widened a fraction, surprised she had even taken the consideration to ask. But then he started to laugh, almost reeling over with amusement. He dropped her down from his death grip, too caught up in the moment to notice, as she collapsed in a corrupted state on the floor. She coughed and wheezed, breathing heavily to gain back all the lost oxygen, her eyesight slowly started to fix itself. Her make-up was completely ruined and dripping down her face in smudges of kohl black from her mascara. Her emerald eyes looked broken from the terror of death.

Just as soon as he had started, he suddenly stopped his laughter, and stared her deep in the eye from his towering position above her form. "_Why?_" he repeated, mocking her words. "_Why? _Because, only _I_ will be the one to break my fucking little brother."

She was silently crying, her eyes unable to make contact with the freak in front of her. But whilst he turned his back on her to continue his rant on how corrupt his life was, Sakura made a mad break and ran forwards, in hope of getting to the front door and escaping before he would notice. However, the damn heels she had slipped onto her feet that evening had made the most monstrous clapping noises in the otherwise quiet house.

He turned on her as soon as he realized she was going to escape. She had even managed to touch the metal doorknob before she was thrown back again by Itachi's muscular arm and was thrown to the floor, her dress ripping up its side. Before, she reveled in the knowledge that none of the maids or butlers would disturb her night in with Sasuke, but now she despised this fact, as she screamed in vain.

Tears streamed down her mannequin-esque cheeks as Itachi picked her off the floor, and placed her back firmly against his chest in a fitting position. She was shaking, shivering from a dread that was attacking her nervous system.

Gently, he ran his hand down her face and wiped away the tear stains, still keeping a firm arm wrapped around her waist. He made sarcastic shushing sounds, like he was lulling her to sleep. But as he did this, he didn't realize that it would cause a sudden bubble of strength to pop in Sakura. She turned around in his arms so she was facing up to him, a rebellious glint in her eyes, despite her situation. She pushed him back and screamed out, "You're a fucked up sociopath, Itachi! You'll never break Sasuke – he's too good for a little fucker like you!"

This seemed to make Itachi twitch with anger and he stalked towards her with his hand pulled back, ready to slap the defiant expression off her face. And slap he did. Like whiplash, his hand made contact with her cheek, but just as it did the front door unlocked. Itachi whipped around, like he had been caught in a sudden glare of headlights. Sasuke stood, taking his key out the door nonchalantly, expecting nothing out of the ordinary, but his face lifted, and his eyes turned angry and murderous at the sight he had befallen.

She was thrown over the marble floors and Itachi was standing over her, with his hand still in midair from the attack. Everything clicked in Sasuke's brain and he charged towards Itachi, forgetting that the force in which he used could seriously hurt his older brother, forgetting that his parents were right behind him standing shocked in the doorway looking at the scene. However, their father was the first to intercept and pulled the two siblings apart.

Itachi was left with a bleeding lip and a black eye. Sasuke, on the other hand, had no damage done to him whatsoever, except for his sore knuckles. His older brother hadn't even tried to retaliate, and that disgusted him even more.

Sasuke's mother helped to pick Sakura up off the floor and lead her to a corner of the hallway, where she consoled the girl and wiped away the mascara marks, hugging Sakura to her chest maternally.

Meanwhile, Sasuke's dad finished a quick call on his mobile, and before any of them could even click their fingers, two men in black suits and mysterious dark sunglasses came in and dragged Itachi into a black van without any questions asked.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked his father, referring to the men.

"They work for the Uchiha Company, dealing with private affairs. We're taking Itachi to a mental asylum. He's gone too far this time," the old man said gravely, his wrinkles slowly creasing up more beneath his eyes.

Sakura picked up at this, and left Mama Uchiha's hug, walking over quickly to wear the Sasuke and his dad were talking.

"You mean, you knew Itachi had something wrong with him?" Sakura asked incredulously, her attitude suddenly flaring up again.

"You knew?" Sasuke asked back, just as shocked.

"What do you mean 'I knew'? I figured it out!"

Sasuke's father sighed deeply and took a deep breath in before starting the story of events in Itachi's life. "When Itachi was 10, doctors claimed that he was a diagnosed sociopath. We tried to," he coughed at the next word, using it vaguely, "'cure' Itachi's problem, but it only got worse and he got manipulative and violent around doctors and therapists. So we just let him be…"

Sakura was unclear of the last part of the evaluation and she didn't let it go. "You let a sociopath roam about the streets? Sorry if I'm being totally forward and out of my place, but even if he's your son, you shouldn't have let him get away with so much freedom."

Both of Sasuke's parents nodded their head solemnly, before his father spoke up again. "We realize our mistake and we apologize for any harm he did to you. From this point onwards, Itachi will no longer be the heir to the Uchiha Company. Son," he laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "when I die, all my assets and my company will be handed to you."

Sasuke was taken aback at this. He had never been his father's favorite but realizing that he was next in line to the throne of a multi-billionaire dollar company made him feel dizzy. "Wow, dad," he said, dazedly. "That's a _really_ kind offer, but-"

"No buts!" his father interrupted. "I know I was hard on you when you were a kid, but I can trust you now. Plus, you have a lovely woman standing by your side all the way," he stated, smiling at Sakura and putting a loving hand around his wife's waist. "Don't disappoint me."

Sasuke smiled and hugged his father, patting him on the back. "Thanks, dad."

Sakura smiled and felt the warmth of the moment seep into her head. Geez, she was the girlfriend of a guy who was going to own a pretty profitable organization. Her life couldn't have been better, even though she had almost, very nearly died that day… Oh, the irony.

* * *

_And he's gone for good, me thinks. _

_Just had practically a whole bag of hash browns for lunch - how much more english can i get?_

_Check out my story Jump In The Pool on my profile, just finished and published yesterday :_)


	15. Many of Horror

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 15_

_When we collide we come together,_  
_If we don't we'll always be apart._  
_I'll take a bruise, i know you're worth it._  
_When you hit me, hit me hard._

_ - Biffy Clyro _

* * *

That night, they carried on with their date, Sasuke's parents kindly dining out to leave the two love birds alone after his mother had considerately gone to the trouble to lend Sakura one of her dresses, as Sakura's maroon bargain piece of cloth was no longer wearable. However, his mother seemed only too kind – she had lent Sakura one of her Versace dresses, and god only knew how much that had cost her…

As his parents exit the house, however, Sakura could see the loneliness and abrupt sadness that was disguised skillfully on their faces. She was sympathetic, but felt that they had made the right choice, except they really should have made it much earlier.

For the whole evening, Sasuke was unnaturally very protective of her. He kept checking up on her swelling, sore cheek, but she slapped his hand away too many times to count - she didn't want him to nurse her.

However, it seemed that there was a much bigger problem at hand: a new week at school started tomorrow.

Sakura dreaded what everyone would say about her. The vicious fan girls were one thing, but what if Sasuke's friends didn't like her? Of course, Sasuke had no one to please, because Sakura had no friends except for Ino, so he got it easy. But the picture of them walking through the school gates, cuddling and holding hands wouldn't exactly please the majority of the crowd, especially as their two clique worlds would be clashing and colliding at that moment. And that had never happened in the whole history of Konoha High. Ever.

In the Uchiha's spacious, candle-lit dining room, Sakura cut up a large bit of steak and practically swallowed it whole out of nervousness. She felt it slowly slide down her throat, but it soon stopped there, and made her choke out and sputter uncontrollably. She grabbed her napkin off her lap and held it up to her mouth, as Sasuke worriedly patted her back and asked her continuously if she was okay. All she could reply back was an exaggerated nod, as her face turned hot in embarrassment. The food stayed lodged in her throat for a good few minutes before she took the initiative to drink the rest of her glass of water, downing it in one breath.

After her choking session had finally finished, she sighed in relief. Sasuke went into the kitchen to serve her another glass of water, but she felt the need to follow him. For one thing, she couldn't stand feeling completely alone in Sasuke's house anymore; it felt haunted, isolated, and like it was just painted all over with neon signs of Itachi. But secondly, she followed him into the kitchen because she knew they had to talk about their practically ruined first date and of the future predicaments that they would inevitably run into at school.

"Sasuke," she softly said slowly in case she would startle him. She placed a light hand on his shoulder from where he was at the tap, filling up her glass.

He hummed in recognition, his light little hum that told her that he was all ears.

"We need to talk." Okay, so she didn't mean to sound so melodramatic, like their relationship was completely falling apart, or anything, but she wanted to be frank and simple.

Finally he turned around and leaned against the sink, after passing over Sakura's now full glass of water. She took it out of his hands and neatly placed it on the kitchen island, out of the way from either of them. She stood uncomfortably in front of him, playing with her fingers. Her rehearsed words that she had gone through in her head only moments before stuck in her throat like that annoyingly large bit of steak had done earlier.

Finally, she managed to get her words out coherently. "Sasuke, is this all a sign?"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, his mouth turning down into an unpleasant frown. "Is _what_ all a sign?"

Sakura shrugged her shoulders in hopelessness, stating out, like it was obvious, "The whole thing with Itachi and how our _first date_ was supposed to be romantic – not awkward and uncomfortable."

"What are you trying to get at?" he asked lowly.

"Well… we don't want to admit it, but we're like Romeo and Juliet – 'a pair of star-cross'd lovers'."

His face turned into that of confusion, as he raised his clueless eyebrows.

She sighed in aggravation. "Do I have to spell it out? Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare!" she cried, almost pulling out her hair. It was beyond her how oblivious some people could be of the literary genius.

"Oh, the, er," he itched his head for a second before continuing, a little uncertainly. "the bloke who wrote all the shit about those suicidal lovers, right?" He was never into literature, and Shakespeare was no exception.

"Er, pretty much," Sakura said, feeling a spark of hope flare up again.

"Wait…" Sasuke slowly said. "Are you saying we're part of some ridiculous fate where we're not really supposed to be together?" Suddenly, he had remembered the tragic play of Romeo and Juliet, and how his lit class had also watched the Baz Luhrmann adaptation.

His chest suddenly felt heavy, like bricks tumbling down upon him. If that was what she was really implying, he wouldn't listen. She was sprouting shit, and he, for one, wasn't going to tolerate it. She was his girlfriend, and he vowed that they would be together for eternity.

Sakura clamped her mouth shut for a moment, silently racking her brains waiting for her response to form in her brain.

"I… Well… It's just…" she mentally slapped herself. No words were stringing themselves together correctly, and she could feel Sasuke's and her own frustrations mounting. She took a deep breath, before attempting to continue again, smoothly and without any hesitations. "No. I'm not saying that _exactly_. What I meant is that… _what if_…?"

She could feel the tension in the room grip her by the throat as soon as the words left her mouth. She could see Sasuke clench his fist by his side, but soon unclenched them again.

"Sakura, listen to me," he came towards Sakura and placed both his hands on her shoulders, holding her gaze. "We were meant to be. There are no such things as signs, and even if there were, we would never let them get in the way… would we?" It was rhetorical, just to sway her into thinking the same way.

She replied nonetheless by nodding her head lightly. She then continued to hug him around the waist, and whispered into his chest, "I'm sorry." Silent tears ran down her cheeks and onto Sasuke's shirt. "I think I'm just… a little _scared_." She didn't like how she admitted to that – it made everything so much more realistic.

He hugged her back, and then pulled her away and kissed her softly on the nose. "It's okay to be scared in a relationship, Sakura. Even I get scared sometimes, just thinking of what people would say… but screw them. If they don't like it, they can go fuck themselves."

She laughed at his crude threat, the hysteria suddenly vanishing. He wasn't much of a motivational speaker, but it helped that he had tried. "You know, you shouldn't admit that you're scared too – man up!" she joked, punching him in the chest lightly.

He chuckled too, ruffling her pink tresses lightly. She was too adorable.

"Come on," he said, dragging her back to the dining room, whilst grabbing her glass of water on the way out of the kitchen. "We haven't even finished dinner yet."

.&.

She helped him clear away the dishes and load the dishwasher while she was at it, in which she learnt that he was completely incapable of doing, as the maids usually had the pleasure.

For the rest of the evening, they cuddled on the sofa and switched on a movie, but for the first half, they were completely absorbed _away_ from the TV – it was evident that Sasuke had planned other things for them to be doing instead. A make-out session was being carried out, but Sakura made sure to slide his hand away from her leg when it crawled too far for her liking.

Yes, he was annoyed, but nevertheless, he obeyed her diligent morals and slowly uncurled the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders, sitting with a small gap between them to avoid any further touching.

She smiled at how understanding he could be, which she never would have thought before.

The movie lasted until late at night but Sakura didn't even make it through to watch the end. She had fallen asleep on Sasuke's chest, whilst he too was snoring away. From an outsider's perspective, the couple would have looked completely and rightfully in _love, _like it was their last day to be together. Sakura was clutching onto his shirt lightly, whilst Sasuke had a lazy arm thrown around her, like her very own personal blanket.

She dreamed pleasant thoughts, all with meadows, unicorns and rainbows involved. But it was short lived, as she startled awake from the sound of an alarm. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and scratched her head, making her bed hair so much more tangled. But she didn't care. All she wanted was to find the source of the sound and smash it against the wall.

She blindly fumbled around, before she noticed that the sound was coming from somewhere _very_ near her. She felt around near the bottom half of her body, and soon found the rough feel of denim and a pocket. She dug inside and successfully pulled out a mobile contraption, to which she managed to figure out how to press the off button without smashing it to pieces.

Straight after, she placed the mobile on the nearest smooth surface and laid her head down again, yearning for more sleep and not even fazed by the random alarm. However, her desire was unfulfilled when she shot back up again, before pressing a random button on the mobile she had just placed down, staring at the time shown – 8:04am.

She had to be in school by half 8.

"Oh my god!" she cried, but as soon as she did, she heard a low groan beside her and she screamed even louder in fright.

She stumbled away from whatever she had been lying beside, only to realize it was only Sasuke, wrapped up in a blanket on his sofa.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, placing a hand on her fragile chest. "You scared me half to death!"

"What time is it?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the sudden onslaught of light as Sakura tripped across the room to open the large drapes.

"Like, 5 past 8! We have to be in school in 25 minutes!" she panicked, pulling out her hair. In the whole of her full-time educational life, she had never, ever been late into school or absent, even if she was as sick as a dog. "And by the way," she said, still pacing up and down the room, "when did we fall asleep?" she asked, clueless as to what _exactly_ had happened yesterday evening. Her memory was foggy after they had entered the living room yesterday and she would have thought that she had returned home by at least 10pm. But it seemed that she had spent the entire night and early morning at Sasuke's and now she in a major crisis, considering all her belongings were at her own home and she had to, at all costs, get into school on time.

Sasuke nonchalantly hummed contentedly and seductively offered for her to come back to the sofa. "Let's just skip school for today…"

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"…Or maybe not," Sasuke quickly said, correcting himself after he had seen the furious, incredulous look on Sakura's face.

"I need to get back to my house, shower and change into my uniform! And I suggest you do the same, Sasuke! Remember, this is our big debut as a couple today!"

She made the whole thing seem so big, like some sort of celebrity was coming to the school. But how could she help it – she was nervous, anxious and extremely unsure as how to act rationally in these situations.

He gave a low growl out in anger, but slipped out of the blanket, which Sakura guessed was his mother's doing after she had come back from the restaurant. And she also guessed that Mrs. Uchiha had switched on the alarm on Sasuke's phone as well – but maybe she didn't know her son well enough to know that half an hour was not enough time to get ready for school.

"I'll tell the driver to take you home, but until he gets here, you can go take a shower upstairs and change into some of my clean clothes," Sasuke offered chivalrously.

She accepted and rushed upstairs; no longer scared of being alone in Sasuke's house as it was broad daylight outside. She slipped into their bathroom, after much tribulation on where the hell it was, but she had found Sasuke's room again and used his en-suite.

She showered in 5 minutes, also managing to wash her hair in record time. When she got out, clad in only a towel, she had rushed around his room, making sure no one was lurking around, to find suitable clothes to go home in.

She had considered her parents once or twice that morning. She wondered if they were worried. The last thing she had said to them was that she was going round Ino's house and wouldn't be back until late. Chances were, her parents might not have even realized that she was gone for the entire night. They sleep so early and don't wake up until Sakura's out the house, so they were mostly likely still soundly sleeping without the slightest clue. And they also didn't know that their daughter might have been dead by now if Sasuke and his parents hadn't entered the house at the critical moment yesterday.

She cringed at the whole memory, but nonetheless, hurried at getting dressed into one of Sasuke's many Superdry t-shirts (which were way too large for Sakura). She decided to forget the bra and knickers, considering the t-shirt reached her knees anyway. No-one would notice if Sakura wasn't wearing any underwear, and plus, she didn't want to re-wear her old undies from yesterday now that she was clean.

She rushed down the stairs to meet Sasuke again, who was waiting at the front door.

"Jasper will get you home, he already knows where he's going," he casually said, as she quickly stood on her toes to place a light kiss on Sasuke's lips. "And then I'll come pick you up for school in…" he quickly looked at his watch, "about 15 minutes."

"Thanks," she said graciously, running to the car and hopping inside whilst the chauffeur dutifully opened the door for her.

She had returned home with only 10 minutes till the start of school and she was starting to panic more than she was before. She changed into her uniform, not forgetting to put on a clean, matching set of underwear on, and checked her reflection in her full-length mirror. Her waist-length pink hair was slightly wavy and still a little damp from her shower, but she brushed it back with her finger nails, relieving it of any knots. She applied a light coat of lip gloss and a natural complexion of mascara to bring out her eyes, as well a dab of concealer to cover up her mix of dark circles and panda eyes.

She packed her shoulder bag with all her books, including the ones she didn't even need for the day, and threw it over her. Picking up her mobile that was lying neglected in the centre of her bed, she made her way back out of the house feeling pretty proud of herself for getting ready in such a short amount of time.

Sasuke was just pulling up near her house, driving his own car for once, instead of using his chauffeur. He was in a fly car, one that had her gasping with breathlessness.

"Check you," she said as she climbed into the passenger's seat. She examined the leather interior and whistled lowly.

"All ready?" he said, as he turned the car around and exit the driveway. The radio was blasting out Mumford & Sons although it wasn't an up-beat tempo, but a more somber tune. Nevertheless, Sasuke nodded his head appreciatively and casually commented, "I love this song."

"You do?" she replied, a little surprised to see that Sasuke Uchiha was a fan of the English folk/rock band. She glanced at him to see if he was lying, but it was all truth and seriousness on his face. "Me too," she said happily, glad that they had found some common ground.

"You aren't wearing your glasses?" he asked, looking to the side slightly to see her face free of spectacles.

"No, I decided to go _au naturel_."

"You don't have to change for me, Sakura," he said gravely, feeling like he was making Sakura a different person as to who he fell in love with.

She frowned slightly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know," she gently said, "I'm not trying to change. My appearance and my identity have no correlation. I won't be turning into a shallow bitch any time soon so no need to fret, my lovely." She squeezed his hand that was resting on her lower thigh reassuringly, smiling up at him.

But then they pulled up into the school's parking lot, just in time for the rush hour of the morning, where every student hangs around in their little clique friendship groups until the bell for AM registration rang.

"Oh god, I feel sick," Sakura exclaimed when she saw the masses of people waiting around outside school. "Can you turn the car around and head back?" she asked seriously, the anxiety etched into her face.

"Sakura, calm down," he consoled as he parked the car in the nearest open space. "Remember – 'if they don't like it, they can go fuck themselves'," he said, quoting himself from earlier. He grinned at her in a goofy, sheepish and totally out-of-character way, which made Sakura feel all mellow inside.

She took in a therapeutic breath of fresh air and closed her eyes for a second, trying to a get her heart rate back down to a steady speed.

Sasuke was the first to exit the vehicle, and once he did, his groupies formed around his car, admiring and worshipping their God. However, he paid no mind, like he normally didn't, and instead went over to other side of the car, and like a true gentleman, opened the door to the passenger seat.

Some looked on a bit confused, and some didn't even notice this change in his normal routine. But as Sakura stepped out of the car, her dainty dolly shoes tapping against the concrete ground and her pink hair flipping over her shoulder as she reached back in the car to fetch her school bag, the fan girls immediately screamed hysterically, like the world had just come to an end.

Sakura, momentarily taken aback, took Sasuke's hand that he held out for her. She wrapped a slim arm around his waist as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. They walked away from the cannibalistic crowd, who glared daggers at her back as she ignored them all.

But as they were walking further into the school grounds, the couple was attracting more and more eyes, till everybody in the vicinity, and a couple of eyes from the classroom windows above, were staring and whispering at them. It was like they were some sort of freak show. But Sakura found it a lot easier than she thought it would be, especially with the knowledge that Sasuke was right next to her, and he was as indifferent as ever.

"See," he said, grinning slyly down at her, "It's easy."

She could see the smugness build up in his expression. "With you here, it is. But once your fan group catches me alone, they'll eat me alive." She winced grimly, thinking about how they would react without their precious Sasuke around.

"Well, I'll just have to protect you every second of every day then, won't I?"

She laughed lightly. "You can't do that," she replied, before shrugging her shoulders as if she could brush it all off. "I'm a strong, independent woman," she assured herself, "I can handle a few prissy slags."

He smirked at her reply and tightened his hold around her shoulders protectively. "That's my girl."

They walked into the school building and flaunted towards their classroom. Sasuke could see his friends, including Naruto, gape at them from afar. They didn't come up to the new couple to say hello, but only stared in astonishment, except for Ino, who was silently jumping up and down in excitement, thrilled to see them together publicly, and Shikamaru, who of course, looked fully stoned.

That must have been the first time that Sasuke had seen Naruto silent.

* * *

_I wrote this chapter about a week ago but forgot to publish it... whoops._

_:( I just learnt when my German speaking exam is, and it's a crappy date to have it because it's a week earlier from everyone else's - i'm bilingual, is why. Fook._


	16. Bitch

_The Love Bite._

_Chapter 16._

_I'm a bitch_  
_When I paint my lips_  
_I'm a bi-tch_  
_When people look at me_

_ - The Plastascines_

* * *

Sakura could feel most of the eyes on her. It looked like something akin to jealousy in the eyes of the majority of the female population. Could it be because of the man that was hanging onto her arms? Could it be because of her new lush look? Could it be because of the fact that she was going to climb the social ladder in less than 3 seconds? Yes, yes and _yes. _She rejoiced. In fact, she wasn't intimidated by all the attention; she was bathing in it.

They reached their classroom, and slid the door open. Sitting in their corner back seats, they finally relaxed and let out a long breath of air which, unknowingly, they had both been holding in.

"Did you see the looks on their faces?" Sakura burst out laughing, imitating the exact expressions of open-mouthed shock.

However, it was short lived, when suddenly, an onslaught of faces pressed up against the windows from the corridors. People gathered at the open doors, all trying to sneak a peek at the new controversial couple, and Sakura cringed, placed her head on the table and burying it into her crossed arms. Even the students who were already in the classroom had put down whatever they were doing to slyly whip out their camera phones and snap a picture to post on a shallow site like Gossip Girl, if the school had an equivalent.

And then Naruto came bursting through the class, and ran towards Sasuke and Sakura's desks, pointing an accusing finger. Behind him were the rest of Sasuke's group, including Ino and Shikamaru, who were trying to pry the staring faces off the windows. They all stood like a street gang pushing for a fight, a scene or a reaction. They received none, as Sasuke and Sakura looked up at them, nonchalance and confusion expressed in their faces.

"Your staring is creeping me out," Sasuke said, addressing the look that Naruto was giving them.

Although Sasuke had told Naruto before over a simple text, Naruto had just thought it was some sort of sick prank – actually, a lot of his friends thought it was some sort of joke.

"You-Her-Wha-She-I… Huh?" Unsuccessfully, Naruto tried to string more words together, before he was pushed to the side by Kiba.

"What he meant to say was…" Kiba interrupted smartly. "What the hell, man? We thought that you were playing some weird joke, but I guess we should have gone with our intuition when we all said that Sasuke Uchiha never jokes."

Sasuke smirked at the comment, before holding Sakura's hand up in his own, showing their bonded relationship. "Well, you were right about that. I'm not joking. This is real."

Some of the girls outside of the room fainted and others wailed dramatically at the concept.

Sakura suddenly butted in at this moment with a sour look on her face. "I don't know whether I should have felt extremely offended by your astonishment at the revelation that Sasuke and I are a couple now…"

Naruto almost gagged at what she had just said. The very idea of the two of them as a couple was too freaky for him to get his head around. Sasuke was like a brother to him and for him to suddenly abandon his bachelorhood was like saying that the apocalypse was fast approaching.

However, the seriousness on Sasuke's face spelled it out for them. They understood at that moment that this wasn't some low plot of Sasuke's. He was committing, and Naruto found himself realizing that he was damn proud of his best friend.

"Oh, what the heck, come 'ere, bro," Naruto said, hugging Sasuke in a masculine manner, patting him forcefully on the back, before swaggering towards Sakura and capturing her in the most suffocating bear hug she had ever been a part of. And not soon afterwards, Sakura was the filling between a very uncomfortable Kiba and Naruto sandwich, whilst both males were howling out a 'welcome-to-the-family' attribution. She had never felt more at home.

.&.

It took a bit of persuading, but the student population finally came around and stopped their freakish staring whenever the couple would pass by. However, a small niche group of students just wouldn't leave it alone and continued on for the rest of the day trailing behind Sasuke, pleading with a pitiful alacrity to go out with one of them instead.

He scowled at anyone who approached him in this manner. At lunch, Sakura was invited to sit at their table, where only the popular kids ever sat. She was uncomfortable at first, feeling like an outsider, but as soon as Naruto got talking with Sakura, they bonded like atoms. It was like they had been friends since the beginning of time, almost like her relationship with Ino. And although they had started on the wrong foot (like the time at Starbucks when he had called her a 'begging tramp'), he soon made up for it and bought her a large slice of chocolate cake from the school canteen.

Sasuke found that he got jealous easily from previous relationships, and at one time during their lunch period, he had almost been tempted to pick up a knife from the table and stab it into Naruto's chest. He found himself in a foul mood for the rest of the day, and would barely even speak to Sakura. But Sakura, and her powers of persuasion, managed to coax Sasuke into forgiveness.

"I can't help that mine and Naruto's personalities fit together like a jigsaw – we coincidentally just have a lot in common!" Sakura pleaded in a hushed whisper, attempting to convince Sasuke that nothing would ever happen between his best friend and his girlfriend, whilst trying not to attract the attention of her teacher at the same time.

He pouted slightly in a cute way that Sakura had never seen before. "Are you certain you won't replace me for the idiot?"

"I'm extremely certain," she assured, taking his hand in hers under the desk.

"Sasuke Uchiha!" the teacher shouted from the front of the class.

Sasuke startled in his seat, paying full attention all of a sudden to the dull English teacher.

"How could you analyze the line 'Give me my long sword, ho!' in the opening of Romeo and Juliet?" the teacher asked, testing Sasuke to see if he had been paying any attention in his class whatsoever. He was arrogantly confident that he had caught Sasuke out, as the boy was stumbling for words.

"Erm," Sasuke started uncertainly.

Every week, their same English teacher always asked him a question out of thin air and challenged Sasuke to a battle of the wits. Sasuke never knew the answer the teacher wanted to hear, but he had always tried to string together an analysis that sounded the most correct. Because of that, the teacher would let him go with just a warning to listen next time. Sasuke never took the advice, but he liked to make the teacher think he had.

Sasuke coughed, and then found the words that sounded intelligent. "The guy is degrading the servan-"

Sakura elbowed him in the side at this point. He winced in silent pain before turning and glaring at her.

She mouthed the word 'wife' urgently. Sasuke had to squint to see the right syllables in the movement of Sakura's mouth.

He quickly corrected himself shortly after, making it seem like he was the one in control. "I mean, the husband is degrading his wife…"

"Because…" the teacher continued, awaiting a justification.

Sakura quickly scribbled a small note in the back of her exercise book and ripped it out. She passed it to him under the table, fooling everyone in the class, including the teacher. Like an expert, Sasuke peered at the note and continued from where he left off.

"…because, the 'long sword' is a phallic symbol to represent Lord Capulet's male dominance, which can also be interpreted in the word 'ho'. It could be an expression of eagerness, but some would make it out to be, simply, a slang word for 'whore', which he addressed his wife with."

It was now the teacher's turn to stumble for words as he pushed his perfectly round glasses further up his nose, a little sweat dripping uncertainly from his brow. "Er, w-well done, Sasuke." In the history that he had taught Sasuke Uchiha, he had never come across a likable answer. It was always something unintelligent sprouting from Sasuke's mouth, but this week was different. And the English teacher strongly felt it had something to do with the little miss sitting at his side. Everybody in the teacher faculty had been talking about it. It was the hottest gossip they had gotten all year: that the devil Sasuke Uchiha was in a relationship with their darling angel Sakura Haruno. It was one of those juxtaposition relationships, which made the staff worried for their little all-star.

Sasuke turned to Sakura and gratefully mouthed 'thanks' whilst smirking lightly.

Shortly after, the bell rang and it was like harmonious music to Sakura's ears. She smiled to herself as she packed away her books. She was only too glad that the day had finally finished and all the drama could just come to a halt for a good few hours before it started all again in the start of a new school day. She decided on the spot that when she got home, she was going to do a bit of TLC and sit in her favorite spot on her window sill and just silently read to herself – that was her definition of a perfect evening.

"Hey, do you want a lift home?" Sasuke generously offered as they walked through the busy school hallway.

"No, I think I'm going to walk it," she replied, thanking him anyway. She liked the serenity that enveloped her mind whenever she took the long way home.

At the school gates, he hugged her like they were parting for a lifetime, before he made his way to the car park. She turned a right out the gates and set a soft pace in her walking. Taking her iPod out of her bag, she switched on the haunting melodies of Karen Elson and forgot her worries, her thoughts and her life in the previous minute. She emptied her head but still managed to take all the right turns and bends to the correct direction of her home, knowing the pathway like the back of her hand.

It was an instinctual route, but as she passed a quite, desolate park, near an endlessly dark tunnel, she abruptly stopped her walking. Seeing a group of about six girls, she turned her feet around to avoid an upcoming commotion and attempted to take the route back and try another one.

But the malicious girls were gathered around a tree in the park and noticed the exact target that they had been waiting for.

"Haruno!" one shouted, leering from her position arrogantly.

Sakura attempted to ignore them and put her volume louder, walking quicker in any direction just to get away from them. They seemed to know her name and her face but Sakura couldn't put a label on any one of them.

"Hey, I was talking to you!" she shouted again, trying to get her attention, but all to no avail. She reddened at the humiliating moment, and in an attempt to prove herself to the rest of her friends, she stalked up to Sakura and pulled her by the shoulder till the poor girl was facing her.

Now that Sakura saw her up-close, she could see that this girl was her upperclassman. _'Her name… her name,'_ Sakura silently thought, trying to identify the red-head. _'Karin!' _she joyously cried. She knew that she recognized the scowling expression of the woman who was standing in front of her, arms crossed and lips pursed in a silent symbol of authority.

Sakura quickly took out her ear phones out of politeness. She had never been the girl who could act completely like a snobbish, care-free spirit, who would easily come across someone they didn't like and whip their hair in that person's face as they would walked away nonchalantly from the scene. No, that wasn't Sakura. She had to face the situation, even though her eyes would be always downcast, nervously looking towards her feet for consolation.

Karin's eyes, which glinted in the low sun, rivaled that of the stony glare of Medusa's. Sakura swallowed, but her fright was heightened when a mysterious new expression disguised that of the last one.

Karin's cruel sneer twisted into a semblance of a smile. Sakura looked at her with confusion lines across her forehead.

"My dear," Karin said, wrapping a thin arm around Sakura's shoulders, like a dear chum, as she led the girl to the rest of her friends. "We've seen you around school with Sasuke – it's _so_ adorable!"

Her voice was laced with a sickly tone, but Sakura was all ears for the bullshit that Karin was talking.

"And you know what, Sakura," she said smiling down at the shorter girl. "We're proud of you."

"What?" Sakura couldn't help but ask incredulously. That was a first from the female population at the school, apart from the good ones. "Aren't you the president of the Sasuke Uchiha Fanclub?" Sakura asked skeptically. Surely that would mean that Karin was out to murder her. Instead, she was acting like Sakura _wasn't_ a threat to the reason which made her so popular among her fellow peers.

"That's exactly why I'm so happy for you!" Karin stated, overly excited. She looked towards her friends for more back-up, and they nodded their heads furiously at what she had just said.

"So, you aren't… _mad_?" Sakura didn't know why she even cared, but it was reassuring knowing that Sasuke's worshipping fan club weren't out to skin her alive and throw her to the wolves.

Karin smiled sympathetically, as if she was getting something that Sakura wasn't. "Of course not." Her wanton smile never faltered and Sakura was starting to become uncomfortable in her presence.

She backed away from the red-head and slipped out of Karin's arm that was wrapped around her shoulder. "I should probably get back home now, my parents will be wondering where I am…"

"Of course, Hun, I'll catch you at school." Karin waved from her position, bidding farewell to her new 'friend'. However, Sakura was reluctant to wave back, and instead casually plugged her ear phones in and carried on with her journey home. Like she would ever 'catch' Karin at school. She couldn't help but to be completely skeptical even though Karin was being so nice to her, which was surely a change for the better.

But it seemed that Sakura's cynic attitude was only too necessary.

After Karin's eyes were finished tracking Sakura's every step and as she rounded the next corner, Karin immediately huddled in a small exclusive circle with her friends. She checked around her shoulder to affirm that Sakura was definitely out of earshot, before putting a slim hand around her diabolical lips, whispering to her other friends, "We'll bring that bitch down."

* * *

_Cue dramatic music._

.&.

_ohlol, guess what i found as i was googling 'how to say film certificates in french'...? Four down, and it's a wikipedia page, titled "Baise-moi". Ahem. Pardon my french._


	17. Do You Want The Truth

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 17_

_Sacred lies and telling tales._  
_I can be who you want me to be,_  
_But do you want me?_

_ - Paloma Faith_

* * *

"You're shitting me," Sasuke incredulously, but amusedly, replied to the account that Sakura had retold from her perspective. She had been retelling the story of how Karin and her bunch of friends had 'bumped' into her after school. After she had returned home from the encounter, she had contemplated the matter and came to the conclusion that Karin was just an ass-licking, two-faced bitch.

Sakura murmured a small tut at the language, but continued nonetheless. "I know, right!" Sakura amusedly said in the passenger seat next to Sasuke as they drove to another day at school. "Does she think I'm stupid?"

"Either that, or she's just too blonde to realize you have brains in that beautiful head of yours." He ruffled her hair affectionately, like she was a small child being rewarded for eating all her veg.

She smiled at this, liking how her boyfriend found every chance to compliment her.

"By the way," she asked offhandedly, looking down self-consciously, "Did your friends say anything when I wasn't there? Anything… good?"

It was like awaiting a professional review on a newly published book from the New York Times. She didn't want an ego boost, just an honest opinion.

Sasuke smirked at her question. "Well, they all had their fair share of comments…" He purposely left his sentence to hang, just to see the cute expression she pulled when she got impatient or agitated. However, he led her out of the suspense by hopelessly adding, "They liked your hair."

The small compliment made Sakura's lips twitch up in a Cheshire grin almost the size of Jupiter. "They did?" she asked, wanting a reassurance on the matter. She pulled at her waist-length hair before she jujjed her roots up to add an appealing twist of volume. No one had ever said that about the mess on her head. Sure, it was restyled from the fugly bun that used to sit on top of her head, but a compliment on _that caliber_ just made the nerves inside Sakura tingle with a satisfactory gleam.

His smirk grew secretly, "Yes, and they generally… really loved you. They thought you were completely different to the presumptions they had made based on rumors before."

"Good," Sakura said simply, but enough to get the message across that she wanted those rumors to disappear from the face of the planet altogether. They could have ruined her life in mere seconds if her self esteem was lower than it was. Rumors that contained the following words were all swirling around her before she had proved it to all be wrong to Sasuke's friends, whose opinions were the only ones listened to in the whole of the school – dyke, tramp, whore, nerd, social reject, wannabe, phony etc , etc, etc…

But now knowing that she was a rather important part of the 'inner circle' in school made her heart glow with a feeling of belonging. She had never been categorized into a clique, except for the 'nerd herd', and the last place she would have wanted to be before she had met Sasuke was amongst the popular crowd, even if Ino was a part of it all. However, she would admit that she had made some pretty nasty presumptions about some people amongst that crowd, just like they had done to her. She had always thought that Tenten, a girl with a naturally bad-ass attitude, was a completely hormonal bitch to everyone, but in fact, it was just a complex with 'doing the right thing'. She was always sticking up for the people who couldn't do it for themselves, although she had never come across a sticky situation with Sakura. She had also assumed that because Naruto was a hardcore party animal and wild junkie, that he was unintelligent and practically brain-dead. Well, apart from the lack of natural intuition, he actual knew a lot about Biology – mostly the science of weed, but it counted for something…

Sakura was cut out of her reverie as Sasuke turned the car into the school parking lot, but as he did, a sight most troubling befell the both of them.

"Oh my god, you're serious?" Sakura asked to no one in particular.

Sasuke too gaped at the scene as he parked his car with such precision. He rolled his windows down to get a better look at the gathering crowd, who were rowdy and unnecessarily impatient.

"Are they _all_ waiting for you?" Sakura asked, her eyes fixated at the masses of deafening girls and violent boys. Were they all a part of the Sasuke Uchiha fan club?

Sasuke shook his head and gulped down a nervous lump in his dry throat. He suddenly felt totally dehydrated as he quietly muttered his next words. "No… I think they're all waiting for _you._"

Sakura's breath suddenly fell labored. It was like a riot outside of the car. She didn't exactly know why they were there, whether the people were gathered to slate her or cheer her on, but for this she knew for sure – it was barely the start of the second day, and already she had gathered a whole population of unwanted attention.

It was like she was made into an overnight celebrity. Sakura climbed out of the car, her fingers numb as she pulled her bag strap over her. There were protesting banners, flags, anything that cried hysteria.

On one of the banners, were the words '_Undeserving & Unfaithful – Sakura Haruno is No.1 Bitch!_'

She winced at the emotional pain that the words had stung her with. They hit her hard like a dagger cutting through her chest. It seemed something had caused these students to suddenly set off into a riot that helped to protect Sasuke from the clutches of his girlfriend. However, the crowd soon dissipated slowly to one side as a number of teachers marched through them all and demanded a sense of order inside the school gates. While the teachers were cleaning up the chaos, Sasuke led Sakura indoors, to a safer haven by a secluded stair case.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke asked, a protective streak suddenly becoming much more noticeable.

Sakura had to heave a few large breaths of air before she could shape her lips into comprehendible words. However, she persisted and unhelpfully commented, "I think there's something going on that we don't know about."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the obvious. Sakura, apparently, had yet to gather her thoughts into reasonable decisions, but Sasuke impatiently tugged at her shoulder, forcing her eyes to link with his own.

"Whatever the fuck is going on here, I'll get to the bottom of it all, and make it disappear as quickly as it all popped up."

Sasuke, the ever reliable boyfriend, made Sakura's distant expression slide off her face. She warily smiled, not totally buying his pledge to make the whole drama go away, but she tried her best to play along with it all.

"Okay… I trust you…" Sakura said lightly, but she thought about this for a long time before looking Sasuke in his onyx eyes and vulnerably added, "Do you trust me?"

A flash of the earlier banners and boards flashed through his mind for a split second. He swallowed, thinking of their meanings. But he pushed it all to the back of his mind and forced a lopsided smile onto his adolescent face. "I trust you."

He led her back out into another school corridor, but it was way busier than the one they were previously standing in.

Sakura walked down the hallway composed and with her head held high. People around her sensed her confidence and cowered to the sides, their hands wringing nervously on their school shirts like they had something to hide. However, her eyes feel upon a poster hanging up on every single door and window. A poster that had a picture of her, a week ago, compared to a picture of how she was now, was above a piece of writing, bold and blasting out of the page:

'_BEFORE AND AFTER…  
WHO'S THE __REAL__ SAKURA HARUNO?'_

There were a variation of different posters, but they all had one thing in common: they were all focused on her. One of them even had the nerve to bring Sakura's parents into the whole situation. She angered when she saw this one and clenched her fists by her side. They accused her family of being a part of drug trafficking – a rumor that had vaporized out of thin air.

Another poster had a photo of the back of her pink head kissing another guy, who's face was the only one visible and turned out to be a guy from another school in the area. Sakura's whole face turned pale as she realized that she was in the centre of a scandal. Obviously, the picture had been Photoshopped, or else _someone that wasn't her_ had kissed the guy with a pink wig on.

She looked towards Sasuke, not knowing what to expect. Scared that he wasn't going to believe any justification that she was going to speak, she trembled and shut her lips up, the tears threatening to fall from the brims of her eyes.

However, she was shocked when Sasuke lashed out. The word 'vengeance' was written all over his face as he ripped all the posters off the wall in the corridor. He then dragged Sakura rather forcibly to the next corridor and did the same. Making his way all around the school, it took him about half an hour till he had ripped them all down and discarded them all in a large wheelie bin.

Panting for air, he leaned against a wall, his back now facing Sakura like he was ashamed to look her in the face. He punched the wall in aggravation, feeling his fist plunge into the concrete. His muscles flexed beneath his shirt, a little blood dripped from his knuckles. His breathing become ragged, hard, like he was pained inside – not from the physical punch, but from how the whole situation had suddenly gotten a little out of hand.

By this time, Sakura's tears couldn't help but fall from her delicate eyes that once showed so much power. She was broken. It was delusional of her to think that she could survive the onslaughts of vicious fangirls. They had ruined her life and her relationship with Sasuke. What more would they take from her?

However it seemed that it wasn't the time for game-over just yet. Sasuke's arms seemed to snake around her shoulders, and before she knew it, she was in the most embracing, protective hug that she had ever received. Not even her parents had hugged her with this much raw feeling before.

"It's all a lie," Sasuke whispered into her ears, although the sound was laced with a rough, angry edge. "They're just trying to get into our heads. Shush. Don't cry." He wiped away the tear stains with his fingertips. "Don't cry, or it'll show that their mind games are working."

Sakura realized what he was implying. It was a sick game that the fan girls were playing to try to break them apart by any dirty means necessary.

Karin must have been _really_ stupid. If she thought that trying to become chummy with Sakura was going to eliminate her from the suspect list on this incident, she was in for a rude awakening.

* * *

_Woo, weekend!_

_I had this bizarre dream because the only thing i remember from it, is my friend, called Max, wearing make-up. And he was totally fine with it. _

_That is all._


	18. Caesar

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 18_

_King of the hopeless will fall_  
_We're gonna knock down the walls_  
_Sing in the Caesar with force_  
_We're gonna knock down these doors_

_ - I Blame Coco, ft Robyn_

* * *

Sakura had sat through three whole lessons, her foot tapping on the tiled floors beneath her in an impatient attitude. Her face was paler than before, her mind completely focused elsewhere. But she was waiting for her lunch break.

And when the bell finally rang, Sakura jumped up from her seat and was the first one out of the classroom. The teacher hadn't even dismissed them and he called her name as she was leaving the room, urging her to return for the last of his lecture on evolution – something she had leant everything about when she was fourteen.

Sasuke soon followed, anxious about where she was going in such a hurry. However, she was hard to catch up to. She must have rounded about a thousand turns before she came to a stop outside of a classroom that had yet to be let out for their lunch.

She waited by the door, her fist clenching and unclenching automatically. She felt all of her reasonable thought processes leave her, and left in its wake was a primal, raw desire to lash out at the first thing that came into her view.

Her previous depressive mood had turned into a more violent one. She could hear the blood boiling in her ears and specks of crimson felt like they were impairing her vision.

The class was shortly dismissed, and then she saw the exact person she was looking for – Karin.

She walked out of the classroom laughing about something with her friend, her short red hair swaying behind her. But Sakura walked towards her with an air of pure malice and Karin didn't even see it coming. A sharp hand reached out from her right hand side and grabbed a fistful of her hair, making her scream out as she was pulled to the side and pushed to the floor.

"Who the hell-?" Karin tried to scream for help, but her ecstatic cries were soon muffled when a body straddled her hips and she felt a sharp sting on her left cheek.

"Fucking bitch!" Sakura cried out, backslapping Karin again on her other cheek. However, Sakura's position was soon flipped, and it was Karin on top. She pulled at Sakura's hair ruthlessly and cried bloody murder. Attempting to slap Sakura and repay the debt, Sakura's hand caught her wrist, only inches away from her face, as Karin struggled against the intensity of her grip.

"You bring my family into this, you bring Sasuke into this, what the fucking hell are you hoping to achieve?" Sakura cried out, using crude language but ignoring it. This wasn't her. It was the thing that Karin had created _inside_ of her. Before, this character had laid dormant in Sakura's mind. She had never even consciously known that she was capable of this violent and hostile attitude.

However, the fight in the middle of a large gathering of students was soon stopped when Sasuke lifted Sakura by her waist off of Karin.

"Let go of me, Sasuke!" she cried, flaying her arms and legs to try and wriggle out of Sasuke's strong grip.

"Calm down!" Sasuke ordered, clenching his teeth in aggravation. However, his best 'strict' voice wasn't affecting Sakura in the slightest. Normally, it would send people into a frightened state; they would cower home with their tails between their legs.

"Fuck!" Sakura cried when she soon felt her body exhaust itself of anymore movement. Her arms fell limp by her side and Sasuke's arms loosened slightly in relief.

"What the hell, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, pulling her chin up to look up into his eyes. He felt like he was talking to an immature six year old, but with the way that she had just acted in front of the whole school, it couldn't really be helped.

Sakura was panting, her gasps coming out long and hard. "It was her. She put the posters up. And started the rumors. All over again." No matter how hard Sakura tried to fight it, she could feel tears welling but refused to let them fall. Instead, she disguised her sadness for anger.

Karin was standing on the opposite side of a circle formed by the onlookers. She was flattening her hair down, smoothing out the kinks, whilst her minions fixed her make up for her.

"_You_!" Sakura seethed out. She tried to get closer to Karin, hoping to pick another fight, but Sasuke kept a firm hold on one of her wrists. "You started those fucking rumors!"

The crowd of students, who suddenly seemed like the whole school student population, had gathered in the narrow corridor. Most people were videoing the fight on their mobiles, but Sakura couldn't care less if it ended up on Youtube. She just needed to get her rant out of her system.

Karin looked offended and held a hand to her chest melodramatically. "Me?" she incredulously cried. "You think I'm _capable_ of such a crime?"

"I think you're capable of being the mastermind behind all of this shit," Sakura venomously hissed back.

"You're out of your mind," Karin said, suddenly growing uninterested and bored with the conversation. She started to check out her pink nails, growling silently beneath her breath when she noticed a small chip.

"Oh yeah?" Sakura challenged, a glint in her eye suddenly becoming much more deadly. With those two words, she managed to trap Karin into paying attention to how serious she was being. "Who else would be so _desperate_ as to go as far as kiss a random guy with a pink wig on?" At this, Sakura pulled out the poster from her bra (the only place on her being that held a slight resemblance to pockets). She showed it up to Karin and smirked triumphantly.

Karin wasn't impressed. She raised a thin eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, looking almost as victorious as Sakura. "And what proof do you have that it was me? After all, we _all_ know what an utterly desperate slut you can be! Just look at you – you changed from the most unpopular geek in school to Sasuke's attention-whoring Barbie doll over the course of the weekend. And FYI… he'll be dumping you in a few days because that's what he _always_ does to his girlfriends. Isn't that right, Sasuke-_kun_?"

Sasuke was the one to anger this time and he attempted to lunge at her, not caring if he was about to hit a girl. Karin shrieked back in terror, clutching her arms over her body in protection. However, Sakura extended an arm to serve as a barrier. She calmed Sasuke down by whispering into her ear that she wasn't worth it.

Sakura smartly coughed into her fist to gather the attention of everyone present. She pointed to a small detail in the poster: the girl's hand, which was placed on the guy's shoulder as they were kissing. "You forgot a tiny, but major, detail, Karin. I may have changed my look, but don't get me wrong – I'm still the high-profile geek that I am _proud_ of." She grinned cheekily. "So don't mistake me for one of you blonde bimbos. I at least have a brain inside this head of mine."

Karin looked offended for a moment, before it turned to utter embarrassment. She had noticed what had given her away. A small ring on the pinkie of her hand showed everyone that it was _her _that had kissed the random guy. She always adorned that ring on her left hand. It was a small ruby ring that had been passed down the family.

Her face reddened till it was almost the same shade as her hair.

However, an overhead intercom blasted out a familiar voice, its lazy drone speaking throughout the entire school. The intercom was only ever used for emergencies, but the obvious voice of Mr. Hatake spoke volumes of nonchalance.

"_Sakura Haruno and Karin, please report to Mr. Hatake's office immediately." _

Sakura looked up at the intercom and sighed. _'Back into normal Sakura mode,'_ she thought silently, switching her rude, violent countenance for her more pleasant, introverted self. Whenever it came to dealing with people like Karin, Sakura always found that she had a switch that just… _switched_. It was like schizophrenia, but on a much more controllable level.

They walked to the office in silence, Karin walking slowly behind Sakura, about three strides apart. It was tense and when Sakura gently knocked on the office door, Mr. Hatake opened it up to see two genteel girls looking up at him like they had done nothing wrong. But he had heard everything from students who had rushed to the office in hysteria, crying out that two students were fighting.

The headmistress, Tsunade, had ordered that the girls be brought to the office immediately to settle the situation and figure out what was going on. She found out that Mr. Hatake was the only teacher who taught both students, so Tsunade had made him take charge of the matter, although it was definitely out of his control. Girls would be girls. Fullstop.

"Come in," he ordered lazily, opening the door to the two students, who warily entered like they were stepping onto enemy territory. They both sat in the chairs that were positioned in front of his desk, twiddling their fingers, mentally preparing themselves for their punishment. "So…" he started awkwardly. He was never the type of teacher to be found constantly yelling at his students. "I heard that you two were seen-"

"Oh, cut it out, Kakashi," Karin rudely interrupted, addressing him with his first name as a symbol to tell him who was in control of the situation, to which he looked simultaneously shocked and offended. "There's no point trying to act all high and mighty when we all know that all we're going to walk away with is a light slap on the wrist and a useless warning."

Sakura looked truly shocked at the way in which Karin was talking to Mr. Hatake. It was like she was _flirting_ with him in a manipulative, forbidden way, like she knew that Mr. Hatake was going to fall for her spruce of rebellion. Sakura wouldn't find it surprising if it was actually working. After all, everyone knew that Mr. Hatake had secret orange bound books stored in his desk drawers that shamelessly detailed the very act of something beginning with 's' and ending with 'ex'. _Yep, that's the one_.

However, the lone eye, which wasn't hidden behind the mess of shimmering chrome hair, crinkled in amusement – the only sign on his face that he found the whole thing quite humorous.

"Actually," he said, "I was going to say, before you very rudely interrupted, Karin, that I don't plan on preaching about the consequences of your actions."

Sakura raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Well, for sure, it was a bit fishy. After all, no matter how lazy Mr. Hatake was, he was still a teacher working at one of the most prestigious schools in the area.

"What I am interested in, however," he stated with a smile that creased up the thin, dark mask he wore over his jaw, "is your motivation for lashing out on a fellow peer, Sakura."

She gulped when she found that the spotlight had shifted over to her.

"Normally, you're so quiet and the perfect role model for younger students. Yet, as I hear, you're now dating Sasuke Uchiha. This was quite a surprise when I heard it being discussed in the teacher's lounge. And now, you're starting fights, causing riots amongst the other pupils and preventing yourself from academically progressing further."

She rolled her eyes mindlessly as he listed off all her supposed crimes on his fingers. He said he didn't plan on preaching, yet that was exactly what he was doing, and she found that he got some sadistic pleasure from watching her squirm under his patronizing gaze.

"I don't see how my 'academic progression' correlates with being acquainted with Sasuke," she stated monotonously. "After all, my grades are still the highest in the entire year. As for starting riots and fights, I think you'll find that none of that was purposely planned beforehand. Just because I'm a 'star pupil', do you not think that I have some sort of switch that triggers an explosion of anger?" Despite the tone of her argument, Sakura stayed relatively calm. However, she spoke volumes with her fierce emerald eyes, which were glaring daggers at her teacher. "I'm only human. As much as I hate to admit it, I still have another side to this outer persona that I choose to show, like a certain Mr. Hyde. Karin just happened to trigger that side of me." She shrugged her shoulders like she was speaking in context to the norm.

Mr. Hatake looked pretty impressed. He rubbed his chin for a good few moments, before his annoying smile returned in place. "How intriguing," he said, a creepy glint sparkling in his cyclopean eye. Sakura knew that he was only messing with her in order to explore the realms of human behavior – Mr. Hatake was her mad psychology teacher. He loved to play the devil's advocate and push people to the edge of their comfort zone, which is what she loathed the most about him. However, the distant glaze across his face vanished as soon as it had appeared, and in his infamous lazy drone, he rumbled out a string of unexpected punishments. "Right, a week of detention after school for the both of you. That is all."

Karin looked pretty carefree as she exited his office, like she attends detention every single day. The same could definitely not be said for Sakura. She stared incredulously at her teacher, before flaying her arms out in a wild haste. "But, Mr. Hatake! This is just _so unfair_! I have a reputable history at this school and I _refuse_ for it to be tarnished over a silly, worthless fight with a girl who actually _deserved_ it!"

He sighed, expressing that his patience was wearing thin. "Sakura," he growled out, "Unless you _insist _on another week of detention, I highly suggest that you leave the matter be and get out of my office." He raised his eyebrow nonchalantly, challenging her to retaliate.

However, she sealed her lips closed and reluctantly opened the door on her way out, her shoulders hung low in defeat.

"And Sakura," Mr. Hatake added. She turned around quickly, hoping that he was only joking about her week of detention. "I'll see you at 3:30 in the library."

_Simply: FML_.

* * *

_So... this isn't a whiny footnote, but a reviewer submitted a comment about how the rebels being popular was a bit unrealistic. My reply to you is: Obviously you've never seen a British school - or Skins for that matter. But thank you for the otherwise really kind review :)_

_Also, I've decided that I will, at all costs, finish this story before I go on my 2 month holiday to Hong Kong in the summer. So sorry in advance if this seems a bit rushed - you now know why. _

_Special hello to the readers in HK :) _


	19. Declaration of War

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 19_

_You try to rip me_  
_But I don't tear and I don't care _  
_My skin is thick now_  
_I learnt these lessons years before_  
_This time I'm ready for your war _

_ - Hadouken!_

* * *

Sakura was a whole bundle of joy as she made her way back to Sasuke, who was sitting at their usual lunch table, surrounded by the rest of his friends. He jumped up from his slumping position when he saw her and immediately walked towards her. But from the forlorn look on her face, he could tell that whatever had happened in Kakashi's office, it hadn't been good.

Empathetically, he led her to an empty seat next to his and sat down after her.

Ino looked at her inquisitively before stating in a deadpanned tone, "You got a detention, didn't you?" It was like Ino had almost expected it. Sakura had told her a few months back, that she would practically kill herself if she got a detention, and now that Sakura did actually have one, Ino could better understand the depressed mood that Sakura was implying and instantly knew what had got her best friend so down.

When Sakura nodded solemnly, Sasuke could have almost laughed. He tried to hold it in, but he couldn't, and his deep baritone chuckle made Sakura hit him around the arm with as much force as she could possibly muster in her depressed, weakened state.

"You're not upset for me at all!" Sakura wailed, looking around the table at all the amused looks she got.

"Well, detentions are pretty common amongst all of us," Shikamaru shrugged, much to the annoyance of Sakura.

"Have a little empathy – this is the first detention I've ever received! I mean, it's not exactly like me to start fights! It's not me at all."

Tenten patted Sakura on the back sympathetically. "Don't worry, Saku," she comfortingly said, using a new nickname she had just made up, "I get into all sorts of trouble for picking fights."

"If it helps," Sasuke interrupted, "I'll sit in detention with you…"

Sakura laughed hollowly, expecting him to be joking. After all, she knew that detentions weren't exactly the definition of fun.

"I'm not kidding," he added a moment later in a monotone. "Look, when do you have it?"

"Every day this week," she said, her head hung low in embarrassment.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. I'm practically in detention every day anyways. I just have to make sure I get caught." He smiled slyly, his mischievous, anarchic attitude coming into play.

She looked at him curiously, as if he were some alien life form – and not her boyfriend. "But… _why_?" She couldn't really fully grasp the idea that Sasuke wanted to willingly go to a detention – even going as far as to purposely get into trouble to make sure he was with Sakura through her seven hours of nightmarish torture. "I'm sure you have better things to do. You don't have to go to the trouble just to _babysit_ me. I'm sure I'll be fine on my own."

She insisted, but no matter how stubborn she was being, he just wouldn't let it go.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," he finalized. "An extra hour to be spent with you definitely isn't 'trouble'."

That was the cue for the whole of their lunch table to burst out in an explosion of 'awww's. Sakura and Sasuke rolled their eyes in unison – it was such a typical reaction when Sasuke said anything remotely sweet.

The bell suddenly rang for their last lesson of the day. They all got up, left their rubbish on the lunch table and walked away, segregating on their way to their own separate classrooms. Sasuke and Sakura, of course, walked hand in hand, their sides touching each other's. It was second nature for them to walk to lesson like this now.

But as they were approaching their classroom, a kid, who was a year younger than the both of them, pounced gleefully up to them and introduced herself as Matsuri.

"I know you don't really know me, considering I'm a year younger than you, but I was wondering... Do you want to come to my house party this Saturday?" She looked excited at the prospect of one of the hottest couples in the school being at her party. No one realized how much of a reputation she would get out of this amongst her friends.

Sasuke glanced from the corner of his eye at Sakura's reaction. He could tell that she had never been to a real party before, never gotten drunk – just generally, never really _lived_.

Her face was a mixture of surprise, confusion and a cacophony of whether she should say yes or no to the offer.

However, Sasuke interrupted and successfully averted the situation from taking a turn into the 'awkward turtle' territory.

"Yes, we'd love to," Sasuke said, to which Matsuri clapped her hands in joy and handed them both a small invitation.

Sakura's hands were numb and unresponsive as she took the card from Matsuri's hands. She had just got invited to her first house party – something that she wouldn't have approved of about two weeks ago. These parties were all about getting crunk and Sakura couldn't even recall touching a sip of alcohol – not even a cheeky sip of wine at the dinner table.

They continued on their walk to the classroom, although Sasuke had to practically drag Sakura, as it seemed that her legs refused to function. As they sat down in their usual places side by side, Sakura was finally out of her momentary paralysis. She took a quick look at the invitation, turning it over in her hands.

"Are we really going to go?" Sakura asked, feeling the nerves already building up, despite the event being days away. "I can't believe you said yes for me," she expressed incredulously.

"Well, you couldn't have exactly said no," Sasuke countered.

Sakura stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. "I could have said that I was busy..."

"But that would be lying," Sasuke moralized mockingly. He liked to be the authoritative figure, the know-all in their relationship. "Why don't you want to go anyway? It could be fun."

She scoffed at the very idea. "I very much doubt that, Sasuke. It's just…" She shuffled in her seat slightly, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "It's just that I don't _fit in _with the partying crowd…" She whispered the last bit, too ashamed for anyone else to hear it.

"It's not a matter of fitting in, Sakura," Sasuke replied sympathetically.

"Life is a popularity contest. It's _all_ about fitting in," Sakura replied swiftly. "Plus, Sasuke, I thought you only do those things to up your reputation with Naruto and the guys… You don't still think that way do you?" She scrunched up her nose in discontent, praying to God that he would answer in the negative.

He scrunched up his nose too and answered, "Those times only applied to the bigger extreme – sex and girls. But now I have you, so those days are behind me. But I don't think I'll ever give up partying altogether." He thought for a moment, with his eyes cast upwards, as if looking into his own brain in search of answers. Finally, he continued: "Look, I won't lie, in all my experience of going to house parties, it has always ended up with the morning-after looking like a scene from Skins." He chuckled at some of the recollections he triggered when saying this. "But some of those times were the best in my adolescent life."

She thought about this for a moment and finally decided that she would go. With a nod of her head, she confirmed it, although a little uncertainly. She wasn't thinking about herself – she was thinking in consideration of her boyfriend. She didn't want him to miss out on the parties that constructed the foundations of his lifestyle, so if that meant attending the said event in question, she would do it.

"But only for you," she quickly added, smiling at his own beaming expression.

They pecked each other lightly on the lips, just before the teacher entered.

Before the teacher could realize, Sasuke quickly whispered beneath his breath, "Don't worry, babe, it'll be swell."

.&.

During the course of their last lesson, Sasuke somehow managed to get caught and sent to detention after school, much to his satisfaction. It was just as he planned. All he needed to do was pull a few strings that would get the teacher so riled up that he just had to use the typical detention threat on him.

Now they were walking to the library, Sakura's nerves tingling down her spine. The walk there felt like she was awaiting her time at the noose.

Today was a Tuesday, so Mr. Hatake would be monitoring the detention. Sasuke reveled in this fact – he knew for sure that Mr. Hatake would let you get away with murder whilst being detained.

They finally arrived at the large oak doors, and Sasuke was the first to enter the large bibliotheca. The room smelt of the years old pages of classic book collections. It was that conventional bookish fragrance and it would have normally given Sakura comfort. However, today was different and all she felt was a sense of dread building up in her stomach, like the smell was purely nauseating.

"Ah," they heard a distant voice echo around the room. "Sakura, glad you could make it."

It was Mr. Hatake who was now making his way towards them.

"And I see you brought a friend." He was, of course, referring to Sasuke. "Take a seat." He pointed to the square tables in the middle of the room nonchalantly, going back to his seat in the librarian's chair at the very front, who had retired for the day. But as they got closer to the centre of the library, a blur of red was reassembling in their eyes.

"Oh, hi!" 'Twas Karin and she looked as pleased to see Sasuke as she had ever been. "Great," she suddenly said, her tone turning into an icy sarcastic remark. "I forgot that you were also stuck in detention."

Sakura grit her teeth. She mentally chanted to herself that she wouldn't start another fight with the fiery red-head.

"Miss me already?" Sakura said, smirking at her on-the-spot wit, as she took a seat by Karin.

But as she was just sitting, Karin had the perfect opportunity to whisper a malicious remark back, subtle enough that Sasuke didn't notice. "The only thing I miss is Sasuke… in my bed."

Sakura snarled almost in an animalistic way. "Claws off, slut. He's mine."

Karin smiled at the sudden defense that Sakura just showed. "If you say so…"

Sakura didn't say anything more. Instead, she used her infamous death glares on the red-head._ The knees ,the feet, the eyes_ – the direction that her eyes went up and down on Karin's body, as if judging her and putting her down. It was a dirty trick that she learnt from Ino, and Sakura didn't ever think she would have occasion to use it.

As Sakura lay her bag on the table, she pulled out a piece of homework that she thought she should complete instead of wasting a whole, valuable hour. However, as she did so, a small slip of card fell out onto the table from her bag.

Karin perked up at what she supposedly saw. She picked up the small slip to inspect it further.

"Are you going to Matsuri's house party too?" she asked inquisitively. Half of her was admittedly quite excited, mainly because of the fact that Sasuke would also be attending, but half of her knew that Sakura was also going, which just made her angry.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I'm guessing that I'll be seeing you there then."

"Well… that's if you're brave enough… I mean, can you _really_ handle all the raving, drinking, drugs – just general rock'n'roll…?" Karin raised her brow, as if testing Sakura.

"Is that a challenge?" Sakura asked, showing all seriousness on her determined face.

Oh, and you should know before we continue: Sakura _never_ backs down from a challenge.

* * *

_I finally gave in to the evil force of tumblr - it's 'winniecakes' and then the usual address that goes after it._

_Follow and if i like yours, I'll follow back :)_

_On the last day of my week off school, and all it's been is studying, studying, studying. Blah._


	20. Liquid Confidence

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 20_

_If one drink can make tonight slip my mind, then I_  
_Should drink up so I can forget that I have lived my life_

_ - You Me At Six_

* * *

"Sakura, I don't think Matsuri's party is such a good idea after all…" Sasuke worriedly whispered in their second day of detention.

Today, Miss. Yuhi was monitoring the detention in the library, but this time, Sakura and Sasuke sat way away from Karin.

Sakura smirked and shuffled slightly in her seat. "Why the sudden pessimism? It was _you _who wanted to go to this party in the first place, Sasuke," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sasuke huffed dejectedly, but replied nonetheless. He knew he couldn't win against Sakura, who was now pumped up from the challenge that Karin stupidly presented to her yesterday, but he could at least try to stop her and her irrational actions. "But Karin will be drunk – have you _seen_ Karin drunk?" He looked over his shoulder to make sure that the said girl wasn't listening in on their conversation, but evidently, she was too busy checking out her nails to notice anything wrong. "Karin is completely _mad_ when she is drunk."

Sakura was now a little more interested and her face contorted to that of fascination. "What do you mean?" she asked, interrogating for a more detailed description.

"She's vicious – one time, I witnessed her bitch slap a guy until he bought her a drink. Another time, she danced on the tables completely naked apart from a skimpy pair of knickers, and then continued to punch a girl who was stealing her limelight. Do you see what I mean?" Sasuke asked, raising one of his dark, defined eyebrows. "She will go fucking _mental_ at you."

Sakura's forehead crinkled as she thought long and hard about this. "And where will you be exactly when she goes 'mental' at me?" Sakura asked, amusedly staring into his eyes. "Are you not going to be a chivalrous boyfriend and protect me from the evil she-devil?"

Sasuke scoffed at her fake act of distress. "Don't count on it, love. Even _I_ will be avoiding Karin for the night." He shuddered at the thought of coming into contact when she was under the influence. The last time he did that, he left in the morning with marks around his neck where she had tried to latch on to him for the entirety of the party.

Sakura gasped in shock and hit him lightly around the head. "Pussy," she muttered beneath her breath.

"Well, try being Sasuke Uchiha for the day, and you will act in exactly the same way," he said with a cheeky, all-knowing smile. "It's not my fault that I have such a large fan base."

"I don't know how you do it," Sakura said with a shake of her head. "You're not even famous."

"But I'm rich… And good-looking. I practically have everything."

She laughed before sarcastically replying, "Oh, you're too modest."

He smirked, signaling that he was also only kidding.

For the rest of the detention, they sat and quietly talked in each other's company, but Sakura knew that it was enough to successfully change the subject from Matsuri's party… because she had already secretly vowed that she would go and deal with the chaos that Karin had started.

.&.

Sakura had served her four days of the total of seven detentions, so far without any glitches. She attended each and every one of them loyally and precisely on time. However, she loathed the fact that the past week would show up on her personal file. Universities sure wouldn't be pleased to see the small stain on her reputation at Konoha High.

She inwardly sighed, but she almost instantly perked up again when she thought of the event that was happening tonight: Matsuri's house party.

There was much gossip and anticipation around the party that had been buzzing amongst everybody in school for the past week. And now that the event had arrived, you can almost guarantee that everyone who was invited were currently at the mall, buying a spanking new dress to reveal more cleavage and leg than they would ever show if they were sober. It was easy to use alcohol as an excuse for acting like a shameless slut on a night-out, and everyone seemed to accept this fact like it was based on scientific proof.

Although Sakura had been searching in her closet for something to wear, she had concluded that she most definitely had nothing. For a minute, she was extremely tempted to just don her neon pink bra and a pair of polka dot knickers. Voila.

For the umpteenth time, she sighed and flopped onto her bed, face first. Using a blind hand, she reached out near to her pillow, and searched for her mobile amongst the material. Finding what she was looking for, she lifted her head up and tapped in Ino's number.

It rang three times before she picked up with a happy, chiming voice.

"Ino? I need a favor."

"_Oui?"_ she asked, in a perfect French accent, happy to oblige.

"I haven't got anything to wear for Matsuri's party tonight." Sakura felt defeated, asking for help, but she knew that it couldn't be helped. The first step to conquer over Karin was to look the best.

Ino hummed on the line before she said with a curious tone, "_You're going to that?_"

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed before she inquisitively replied, "Yeah. Why?"

"_Oh, no reason." _It wasn't convincing. However, her voice picked up and she continued, "_Are you going to get smashed off your face?_" She gave a quick chortle of a laugh. "_Sorry, I just can't imagine you at a party."_

"Are you going?" Sakura asked, with the slightest hint of a frown of displeasure. "I mean, you got invited, didn't you?"

"_Yeah, of course… But Shikamaru and I are planning on staying in; spend our Friday night watching a DVD and ordering a Chinese."_

Sakura could easily tell when Ino was feeling _off_, of sorts. "Do you mind if I come round in a bit?" Sakura asked, silently thinking that she should attempt to comfort her best friend, whilst also picking an outfit from Ino's infinite closet.

"…_I'll see you in 10?"_

"Perfect." Sakura smiled. Ino was in much need of a good hug and a nice drink of Earl Grey in their matching favorite Wedgewood teacups.

.&.

There was a sharp knock on Ino's front door, in which one of her maids opened it to reveal Sakura, flushed and looking like she had just had ran there.

She immediately made her way up the stairs without needing to be told. She knew where Ino's bedroom was instinctively.

As soon as she saw Ino sitting on the edge of her bed, calmly flipping through a bridal magazine, Sakura immediately pounced on her and tackled her onto the bed. They tumbled over each other, as Sakura squeezed the air out of Ino.

"Can't. Breathe," Ino struggled to say, as she tried to pry Sakura's arms off of her.

Finally, Sakura obliged and unwound her hands off of Ino's neck. They both sat on Ino's bed silently for a second, before Sakura shot Ino a sad face, with her lower lip pouting out in a childish manner.

"What?" Ino asked sharply, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"You're upset and I can tell," Sakura simply said. Then, she reached into her satchel bag and pulled out a silver flask and a rectangular package of tissue paper. She unwrapped the tissue paper and passed Ino one of the two contents: a teacup with intricate sorbet detailing, which they had given each other as a friendship pledge when they were six or seven years young. Then, she unscrewed the flask and poured out a cupful of tantalizing tea, which smelled freshly brewed, like a spring morning.

Ino smiled at the thoughtful gesture and took a sip of her Earl Grey with a careful alacrity.

"So… Tell me everything," Sakura ordered, as she placed down her cup on the bedside table.

Ino instantaneously started to well up. "He doesn't love me," she whispered out in a hoarse voice that Sakura barely recognized. "He's interested in another girl."

"Shit," Sakura couldn't help but to mumble out.

"Tell me about it. Her name's Temari…"

Sakura thought for a second before voicing it out loud. "…Sounds familiar."

"Because it is. She's the older sister of Gaara – you know, the antisocial one, who hangs around with us lot – and Kankuro. I heard she's beautiful." Ino's face fell at this. Her eyes were downcast and her fingers couldn't help but to automatically start scratching off her nail polish, which she hated doing, but it was a bad habit when she was depressed or nervous.

Sakura's hand reached out and reassuringly placed them over Ino's hands. "If Shikamaru is trying to look for a better girl than you, he'll never succeed. He can search for his entire life, till he's all old and wrinkled, but no other girl could come in competition with you, and win."

She said it all in such a confident, honest manner, that Ino practically had no choice but to nod her head and smile. She instantly felt better talking to Sakura, and that's why she loved her so much.

"Thanks, Sakura," Ino said gratefully. She wiped a few of her tears away with the back of her hand. "You needed a favor, right? What was it again?"

"I need to borrow a dress for Matsuri's party," Sakura repeated, as she casually walked over to Ino's walk-in closet and opened the large double doors. It was spacious and practically the size of Sakura's bedroom.

"I have just the thing," Ino said, rushing over to the rail of clothes on the left-hand side. She picked out a black, lacy dress with three-quarter length sleeves, stopping mid-thigh, evidently from Topshop. "And pair with these…" She reached down and flipped the lid off a shoe box, revealing black, sky-high Stella McCartney heels.

Sakura couldn't help but to stand speechless, staring at the outfit that Ino had picked out in a mere two seconds. She reveled at the styling and the gorgeous fashion.

"Now try it on," Ino urged, pushing her behind a divider in the corner of the wardrobe.

Sakura did as she was told and wriggled her way into the tight dress. She thanked the Gods that she was the same dress and shoe size as her best friend.

"Are you going with Sasuke to Matsuri's party?" Ino asked to pass the time.

"Yeah," Sakura shortly replied. "Why aren't you going again?"

At this time, Sakura was attempting to zip up the dress awkwardly, flexibly trying to twist her finger tips to that angle. But when all she heard was silence on the other side of the divider, she knew that another something was wrong with Ino.

Sakura popped her head around to peer at her, a mass of pink hair falling in front of her face. "Ino?"

She was looking down into her lap again, the bad habit of scratching off her nail varnish coming into play. However, she looked almost guilty. "Shikamaru and I are staying in, because I decided it; I found out that Temari was going to be at this party. And I think I just got a little jealous."

Sakura went over to hug her best friend again, not caring that the back of her dress was still fully open and revealing the clasp on her bra.

"It's okay to be overprotective of your boyfriend - especially if he's a natural twat."

Ino laughed at the truth in the statement. "Do you ever get jealous at the girls that Sasuke talks to?"

Sakura frowned. "What girls? The only girls that he talks to are you, Tenten, Hinata, etc, and I trust the lot of you. He doesn't even acknowledge any of his fan girls, and that would be the majority of the female student population."

"You have it easy," Ino stated blandly. "I have to put up with him constantly getting chatted up by sluts and hoes at all the parties we attend. He's a fucking flirt when he's drunk. And trust me, it happens more than you can imagine."

Sakura winced at the emotional pain radiating off Ino. After everything that Ino had said, Sakura finally realized that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. In her eyes, Shikamaru had turned from the caring, trusting guy to a heartless little SOB.

"But whatever… So what, I don't trust my boyfriend. He doesn't exactly give me a reason to trust him," Ino said with a stony set to her eyes. "I'm going to have a talk with him tonight."

Sakura couldn't believe how calm and resolving Ino was acting. If Sakura was in the same boat, she would be going crazy – pulling out her hair, screaming, crying, etc…

Sakura smiled lightly at how strong Ino could be. They were perfect as best friends. They neutralized each other out flawlessly, their personalities fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Finally, Sakura zipped up her dress and slipped her feet into the Stella heels. "How do I look?" she asked, as she twirled around, revealing how figure-hugging the dress was.

All Ino could say was a breathless wow, before she snapped out of it, and cried out, "I can't believe you look better than me in that dress!"

Sakura cheekily grinned and gave a guilty laugh. "Thanks for the help, Ino," she said, hugging Ino quickly before taking a hasty look at the clock on her phone. "I have to be going now. I still need to do my make-up and hair, and Sasuke's picking me up in half an hour!"

"Good luck, Sakura. Have fun tonight. Drink your body weight and be merry!"

Sakura rolled her eyes, but giggled inside and ran down the staircase, struggling slightly in the heels.

"Good luck yourself!" Sakura shouted just before she was out the house and slamming the door behind her. She ran all the way home, the heels surprisingly the comfiest things her feet had ever worn.

As she reached her house, she noticed that her parents car was still out, meaning they were still working. She breathed a sigh in relief, glad that they didn't have to see her dressed like this. They still didn't know anything about her and Sasuke, but they had, on numerous occasions, been a little overly curious about the fact that she wasn't home as regularly as before. But they seemed to buy the dubious excuses and the guilt-filled lies. Sure, Sakura felt bad, but then she assured herself that she would tell them one day. But until then, she just wanted to enjoy her youth while it lasted.

The manic to apply her makeup was tenfold than her normal routine and brushing through all the knots in her lengthy hair was the biggest challenge that Sakura had ever faced. Black mascara, peach blusher, desert lipstick, done. She left her hair down, slightly wavy, effortless – quite literally.

And just in the nick of time, Sasuke's rapping at the oak doors resonated throughout the house.

"Coming, coming, coming," Sakura gushed out, stuffing a few essentials in a small satin clutch.

"Hi," she said breathlessly as she opened the door.

Sasuke stood there with a small smirk gracing his perfect features. He was dressed down, in a pair of loose-fit jeans tucked into combat boots and a Superdry t-shirt.

"You look gorgeous," he said, as he gave her a quick peck on the lips. He quickly cast his eyes up and down her body, until reaching back up to her eyes again. "Come on, party's already started." He led her to the car, opening the door for her to enter into his limo. She could tell that he would need a chauffeur to drive today so that he could get completely wasted without having to illegally drive under the influence.

On the journey there, Sasuke pointed towards a plastic bag by his feet. "Look," he said, pulling the bag down to reveal four bottles of alcohol. "We have: peach schnapps, tequila and two bottles of vodka." He then pointed to the other side of him, where a six-pack of beer was lying on the seat.

Sakura wasn't impressed. "Is all that really necessary?"

He smirked. "It makes the whole party," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "And it's not all for us. Naruto and Tenten asked me to get them."

Sakura pulled a face that told him that she was suspicious.

"Oh, we're picking up them two by the way."

Just at the right minute, the limo pulled up on a street sidewalk by a noticeable neon-signed, off-license gas station. The door to the limo opened and in rushed two giggling teens, their faces flushed with that of a fresh prank.

"Drive, drive!" one of them said in a slight slur to the chauffeur, who sped off shortly after.

Sakura looked back at the gas station and saw a plump man, with a working uniform on, run out, waving his fists at the vehicle she was currently seated in. She turned back around, confusion etched on her face, but realized the cause for the distress of the employee.

Tenten reached behind her jeans, and pulled out two small bottles of Smirnoff, and then immediately giggled afterwards. Naruto did the same, revealing another two bottles.

"You couldn't have just bought them?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow.

"First of all, we're not legal. Second of all, it's all about the _thrill_," Naruto sighed out. And then he burst out into another set of immature giggles.

Sakura looked at them like they were crazy, whilst Sasuke played along with it all and never let his infamous, trademark smirk slip.

It was obvious to Sakura that they had already been drinking – she noticed that one of the stolen bottles was only halfway full. Sasuke also noticed this and snatched it out of Naruto's hands. Not wanting to feel like the only one sober (except Sakura), he unscrewed the lid and took a naughty large gulp. His face contorted to that of disgust as he swallowed, but it disappeared soon after and left in its wake was a fresh, fierce smirk.

Sakura looked at him in bewilderment but didn't say a word. She didn't really get a chance, as they soon arrived outside the gates leading to a large house, bordering on a mansion.

Sasuke held out the bottle for Sakura and she didn't know what to do. He urged it on her, coaxing her with a little reassurance that it was practically harmless, just a little drink to offer her the confidence to ruin Karin. And when she heard those words, she remembered the challenge that she had accepted from the said red-head.

With shaking fingers and sweaty palms, she took the bottle off him. Staring at it for a few seconds, she contemplated her options. But then she thought '_screw it'_ and took a quick swig.

It soared down her throat like volcanic lava and went straight to her head. It tasted like _shit_, but for the first time in her life, she didn't give a fuck. She didn't feel the effects straight away – it was as Sasuke had said: _harmless_. So she downed another few gulps, almost a quarter of the bottle, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

And _now_, she was ready.

* * *

_I really hope you're all seeing the gradual transition from sensible, innocent Sakura to badass, rebel Sakura. It's all a purposeful act of development in the characters. _

_And ps. I'm really sorry about the wait on this chapter. I had to sent my laptop off to get rid of a virus, but then I started having mini panic attacks at the thought of all my data being lost in the process of removing the virus. I haven't got a back-up for this story, so i would pretty much be screwed. But as it happens, i didn't lose a thing. _


	21. Hurricane Drunk

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 21_

_I hope that you see me,  
Cause I'm staring at you,  
But when you look over,  
You look right through,  
Then you lean and kiss her on the head,  
And I never felt so alive, and so.. dead._

_ - Florence & The Machine_

* * *

She was still able to walk straight and think straight, but as she passed the foyer of Matsuri's home, she no longer felt the butterflies attacking her stomach. She took a quick glance around the hallway, and saw a large gathering of people dancing, stumbling from room to room and making out against the walls. The only thing that they all had in common was that they all held a drink in their hands.

"Welcome, guys!" Matsuri said in a drunken slur. "I see you've all bought your own drinks, which is good. We're going to get so… WASTED!" She shouted the last word enthusiastically, pumping her arm into the air, but spilling the contents of her cup as she did so. She giggled immaturely and made room for them to properly enter.

Their first destination was the kitchen, where Naruto, Sasuke and Tenten immediately started to mix drinks expertly. Sasuke threw a few different colored liquids together in a disposable plastic cup before handing it to Sakura.

"The girly drink for the light-weight," he said as Sakura took the drink off his hand. She smelled the dodgy drink, before taking a small sip.

Licking her lips, she couldn't lie – it was extremely nice. It was exotic and fruity, and she couldn't taste the alcohol in it. She doubted if it even _had_ any alcohol in it, but she had witnessed him pour it.

He made a drink for himself, before he took Sakura's spare hand in his own and dragged her out to the back of the house. They were heading to the garden, where he could hear loud music pumping out of a sound system. He expecting a large turn-out of people, hopefully people that he knew. And he wasn't disappointed. Out in the garden, there were people on deckchairs, casually conversing. On the grass sat a circle of people, all smoking, what smelled like, marijuana out of a hookah.

She stared at the unfamiliar surroundings. Sasuke seemed in his comfort zone as he lighted up a cigarette and took a long inhale. He felt the nicotine instantly relax his system and he sighed out as smoke was released out his nostrils.

However, Sakura looked at him like he had just committed a crime. "You know I don't like you smoking."

"Relax, babe. We're at a party. Drinking is practically just as bad." He pointed at the drink in her hand, and she ashamedly lowered her head. He was completely right. She was just as bad as him.

He turned away shortly after, ignoring Sakura, whether on purpose or accidental, she didn't know – nor care. He started talking to some other guy and started to converse easily with him.

It was obvious that she wasn't good company at parties. She huffed moodily and stalked off, downing the rest of her drink as she did so, just for the hell of it. If he was going to act that way, so be it.

She wanted something stronger. She went back to the kitchen, where a couple were on the countertops, shamelessly getting very 'intimate'. However, she ignored them and grabbed an unopened bottle of vodka and took it with her to the living room.

Before she entered, she stood by the corner and poured a quarter of the bottle contents into her awaiting mouth. The liquid burned her throat, but she didn't care. She wanted to get smashed, like Ino had suggested. She needed and craved the confidence that it installed in her. And then she would be able to accomplish two things in one night: show Karin who was boss, whilst giving Sasuke a piece of her mind.

She joined the dancing youths in the middle of the lounge, shaking her hips to some unknown song. It was a clash of raving bodies, blurred faces, and hands in the air.

'_This is the greatest feeling ever_,' she thought, as she took a couple more swigs of alcohol. She closed her eyes and let her body involuntarily move to the catchy beat. And then she felt a pair of hands move themselves swiftly on her hips. She was pulled towards a masculine chest and made to move in time to him.

Sakura craned her neck up to see who it was, but she didn't get the chance. The body was suddenly thrown off of her and all she saw was a haze of jet black.

"Sasuke?" she asked dazedly. She drunkenly swiped her palm over her cheek to move a strand of pink hair off her face, where it was stuck by the thin glaze of sweat. "Sasuke, what are you doing?"

Almost immediately, she noticed that he was beating up a guy with auburn hair. He punched him once more in the jaw and then stood straight again, anger flashing in his eyes. He didn't look at Sakura. Instead, he walked away from the scene silently.

She looked around her in a panic, wondering if anyone was going to help the powerless guy on the floor with his nose bleeding pitifully. However, no one seemed to notice that a fight had just taken place, and they were still in a dancing trance in the centre of the room. She looked around once more, glancing at the groaning boy again, but she didn't stay to help him. Instead, she ran out to follow Sasuke.

"What the hell was that?" she said lagging behind him. His walking didn't cease and he was heading to an empty room, perhaps the dining room, but Sakura couldn't tell – her vision was invaded by nothing but darkness.

Just as she stepped inside, he whirled around and slammed the door shut. Almost immediately, he started to kiss her in a ravaging fashion, whilst cautiously backing her towards the wall. The force he was using on her mouth was rushed and almost bruising.

Her mind wasn't working properly. It was all hazy from the amount of alcohol she had consumed, and she knew her tolerance was low. The invasion of Sasuke's foreign tongue in her mouth was livid. She wasn't really thinking in the moment, her mind was drifting elsewhere. But when she felt his rough hands playing with the hem of her dress, pushing it further up her thighs, she acted and pushed him off. The first time didn't work. He was too strong. She made unwilling sounds but they were all in vain. She suddenly felt extremely scared. It didn't help that her emotions were heightened from the drinks. She tried another time to push him off, this time with much more force, and thankfully, he pulled back with a shocked glare.

Her eyes were on the verge of just bursting into tears, as she harshly pulled her dress back down to its rightful length.

As he saw Sakura's helpless state through the shadows of the moonlight, his heart felt like it clenched painfully in his chest. He moved towards her, about to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, embrace her and whisper into her ear that he was sorry. But she didn't give him a chance and she flinched away from his touch.

"Stay away from me," she said with a broken voice. She backed away, closer to the door, her hawk eyes never leaving Sasuke's shadowy form. But just at the last minute, she twisted the door open and ran out of the dark room, back into the open main house. Tears were now streaming down her cheeks, mascara running like mayhem. No one noticed her distressed form; no one paid any attention to the boy who was shouting after her. But he didn't even try to chase after the girl. He never left the room.

Sakura could hear his fist collide with the wall in frustration, as well as the door slamming, locking him on his own, isolated from the rest of the party.

However, Sakura kept running to the front of the house, where there was a lack of people and noise, and she found her chance to cry alone. She wrapped her arms around her waist, and sat on the porch step, only the low hum of laughter and the pulsating beat were heard from the house.

She looked down into her hands and noticed she had taken out the vodka bottle. In one mouthful, she downed what was left until she felt almost too dizzy to stand up. She sat alone for a few minutes more, trying to slow down her erratic thoughts.

And then a revelation hit her when she saw a couple across the street. They seemed happy; smiles and all. Their hands were intertwined, like vines, and their eyes glittered as they talked to each other, God only knows what about. However, the romance that hung to the particles around them was like little glitter elements. She could see that it was purely magical. And then her heart clenched, a silent message instantly relaying to her brain that she was missing Sasuke already.

She stood up, the blood going straight to her head, but she made her way back into the house nevertheless. Her hair was matted, sticking to her face and her make-up was completely ruined. She must have looked a spectacle, reeking of alcohol, but she just knew that she needed to find Sasuke and apologize. Make him apologize too. She knew he was at fault the most, but she also knew that she would forgive him. The injuries were minor. Forgive and forget.

But as she turned the door handle and stumbled into the same dark room where she was sure Sasuke still was, she didn't think she'd ever witness a sight so betraying.

A person. Another person. A total of two people. Arms, lips, legs entangled. One with black hair. One with red hair.

She felt sick. Bile was rising in her throat. Saliva was coating her mouth, awaiting the puke.

Just as she was almost reeling over to retch, they noticed her. And so she ran outside again to the front of the house and puked out the contents of her stomach onto the front lawn. It just kept coming in continuous amounts.

She wasn't really certain of what she saw in there. She didn't want to know – she didn't want to face the harsh truths of reality. Call it _ignorant bliss_.

There was a shout coming from inside, getting closer. It sounded like Sasuke, chasing after her.

Sakura thought to herself, '_Why bother?_'

She entered the house again quickly, to avoid Sasuke just as he rounded the corner. She took the first exit route that she could see, which happened to be the entrance to the kitchen. He didn't see her, so he went outside to see if she was there.

Her broken, hollow eyes glanced around, a few people were dotted there, paying no mind to the disheveled youngster. She looked like a beautiful mess. Her gaze landed on the discarded, unopened alcohol. The Smirnoff especially caught her attention. She grabbed the neck of the bottle and took it with her to the stairs, where she climbed them two at a time. Sasuke wouldn't look up here. Knowing him, he would give up before he'd think about the other floors of the house. She betted any money that he thought she would have gone home by now – after all, she did leave a trail of her puke leading down half the street.

Meanwhile, Sakura found an empty bedroom – conveniently the only one without someone in there. She didn't bother switching the light on. She liked it better when the walls were illuminated with the faint white glow of moonlight flooding through the windows. She didn't know whose room it was, nor did she care in the slightest. She sat down with her back against the wall, her knees tucked into her chest for protection.

And then she started to drink her troubles away.

* * *

_Okay, I lied when I said i wasn't going to write about any cheating or affairs in this fic, but it just so turns out that my thoughts seemed to stray that way..._

_T'was non-uniform today at school for charity, but golly-gosh! The number of girls wearing Uggs and a fake leather jacket - gee-whiz! I swear, by the end of the day I wanted to kill myself at the lack of originality. Fashion is crying. _

_Trololol, i sound like a snob but it's so, so true._


	22. Alone Again Naturally

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 22_

_I promise myself to treat myself_  
_And visit a nearby tower_  
_And climbing to the top will throw myself off_

_ - Gilbert O'Sullivan_

* * *

_I don't know what came over me, but I felt the need to run. My legs carried themselves in any direction, moving faster on their own accord. I took a risky glance over my shoulder but immediately screamed at what I saw. His face was dawning in closer, and it felt like we were nose-to-nose. He was everywhere, painting the sky red and black. _

_I screamed again when I felt cold, rough fingertips brush against my shoulder and tried to force my legs to run faster. However, I came to an abrupt halt, just at the edge of a pool of water. My toes were so close to dipping in, falling in. My arms flayed to try and keep my balance. I turned around when I felt myself gain my poise again, but that reassurance disappeared soon after. He was back. His eyes were filled with nothing but black and it made it so hard to see any emotion in them. I attempted to scream, just to continue screaming until my throat was raw, because the loud noise seemed to make him flinch back. His hands involuntarily covered his ears as a defense mechanism. _

_But then he started to smirk. And then laugh, his hands slowly lowering themselves back to his sides. His voice was a low, hollow baritone, and it was filled with remorse. I didn't know the cause for his amusement. But then a sickening realization hit me. I was no longer screaming. I couldn't _physically_ scream. I turned around and stared at my reflection in the darkening water. _

_I wanted to heave when I saw myself staring back with frightened doe eyes. My mouth had sealed itself. My lips were now blended into my skin, and left in its position was just pale flesh, stretching out whenever I tried to scream anymore. My fingers touched it, and it felt like they were sinking in. My stomach dropped. _

_I didn't even have time to realize he was now standing right behind me, until his ghostly hand reached out and clamped over my eyes. I stumbled back, scared of the feel of death in his palms. A total black abyss filled my sight and then a screaming man, tortured and pained, filled my ears…_

_It sounded faintly like… Itachi._

.&.

Sakura shot awake at the screeching that had just impaired her hearing for an ear-splitting second. Bad idea. A headache the size of Jupiter suddenly erupted in the shallow depths of her mind and she reeled back from where she had just lay. She lazily ran her tongue over her teeth. _Disgusting_. They felt gritty, and there was a subtle bitter feel in her mouth. Nevertheless, she closed her eyes, trying to calm the pulsing pain that felt like her brain trying to break free from her skull.

However, she couldn't help but to shoot up again, as she realized she was sleeping somewhere _very _unfamiliar. She looked around her and noticed that her arms and legs were entangled in a mass of heaped bodies in the living room of… Matsuri's house?

There were beer cans and vodka bottles scattered everywhere, and she could see pizza stains on the eggshell walls. 'Wild party?' she guessed internally. And that's when it hit her. She couldn't remember anything about last night. She couldn't remember how she managed to get undressed and was now in only her bra and knickers. She didn't remember how she had managed to be sleeping amongst a sea of strangers. She gulped. Well, this was awkward.

No-one else in the room was awake yet, so she stumbled around until she found Ino's black lacy dress and Stella McCartney heels abandoned in the corner. She picked them up off the ground and pulled the dress over her head and down her legs. She held the heels under her arms as she started to walk around the house, attempting to find the kitchen. As she was walking through the house, she could see more bodies, passed out on the floor, face-first. Coincidentally, she found her clutch bag neglected by the front door and picked it up, not knowing when she had put it there. She pulled out her phone and checked the time: 6:24am.

She groaned at how early it was. And then she noticed the fifteen missed calls and the twenty-eight unopened messages. However, she didn't dwell on it and stuffed it back in her bag as she shrugged her shoulders. The house was completely silent, so she helped herself when she successfully found the kitchen. She was careful not to step on the broken glass littering the tile. She made her way over to the large fridge and took out a yogurt that she found and a carton of orange juice, almost empty.

Like it was her own home she was standing in, she gulped down the rest of the orange juice like she was completely dehydrated, and opened the yogurt, conveniently finding a spoon on the countertops. Not even caring if the spoon was clean or dirty, she ate her breakfast in silence, reveling in the satisfaction that filled her stomach. She leaned against the tables, but the lack of words in the air, the lack of sound, made her mind suddenly reel into distinguishing anything she could remember from last night.

She knew only one thing for sure: she most definitely couldn't remember the last hours of the night. But some of the images of before then flared up and focused in her mind.

She recollected that she had arrived with Naruto, Tenten and… Sasuke. And then one thing rolled into another, and all her memories suddenly fit together like a jigsaw.

_Uh-oh_. Just at that one image flashing itself in front of her eyes, she felt sick again. The twisted picture of Sasuke kissing… _who was it again_? Oh, that's right… It was Sasuke and Karin.

Sakura immediately ran to the sink and regurgitated the yogurt back up her throat. She reeled over the edge of the steel basin and felt sour stomach acids spill out of her mouth.

It felt like hell was living inside of her. She stumbled around a bit to find a bathroom, and when she finally did, she quickly locked herself in and stood with her back firmly pressed against the door.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. _Fuck_.

Sasuke had _cheated_ on her. And with _Karin_, no less, which kind of made it ten times worse.

"I hate my goddamn life," she mumbled, as she moved sluggishly towards the mirror on the side of the bathroom. She leaned her forehead against the cool surface, before leaning back and taking a good look at her reflection. "Jesus Christ," she muttered beneath her breath, attempting to flatten her hair with her fingertips. It was all frizzy, sticking out in all directions, and she swore she could feel remnants of her own puke (and most likely, someone else's too) in some of the strands.

Her hair wasn't even the last of her problems. She had thick, black panda eyes and black pen marker written on her cheeks, the left one had one half of a broken heart, and the right one with the other half of the heart.

She tried to wash the marker off her face, splashing water all over her cheeks. It managed to just fade, but then she just fell to the floor in a tucked-up fetus position and started sobbing against her knees. She didn't see the point to hold in her emotions anymore.

She pulled out her phone and flicked through the missed calls. Fourteen were from Sasuke. And one was from her parents. Oops, she had forgotten to check in last night, but she doubted that they had worried. She had told them that she was sleeping round Ino's. They seemed to believe her.

The unopened texts were all from Sasuke - all twenty-eight of them. Starting from the bottom, she slowly made her way up and scanned through them. They all practically had the same gist: either, 'Pick up the phone' or 'It wasn't what it looked like'. She angrily rolled her eyes, certain that they were all a bag of bullshit excuses. Amidst her fury, she threw her mobile against the nearest wall and saw it shatter into a billion tiny fragments scattering the tiles. And then she started to cry again, the tears never ceasing, running down her cheeks like large raindrops.

She stayed like that a few good minutes, till her eyes ran dry. Then she picked herself off the floor, leaving only her broken mobile and walked out of the house in a zombie state. It felt like the typical 'morning after the night before' walk of shame. However, it was too early for most people to be out, and even if there were people around, she wasn't exactly in the mindset to care.

She wanted to head home, before her parents woke for work and saw her in her disastrous state.

It was silent all around her house when she unlocked the door and trudged up the stairs to her bedroom, where she immediately began stripping off her clothes and headed to her en suite, where she locked the door behind her.

She ran the hot tap till her bath was scorching and it felt like it was burning holes through her flesh as she slowly dipped her body in, but her whole skin was tingling with numbness so that she couldn't feel the pain. Her face came so close to completely surfacing below the water, from disappearing beneath the suffocating liquid. But at last minute, a knock at her bathroom door resounded out.

"Sakura?" she heard her mum's voice say through the door. "Are you back from Ino's already?"

It sounded like she had just woke up as her voice sounded hoarse and foggy.

Sakura shot up into a cautious sitting position, the water splashing onto the tiles at the sudden jerky movement.

"Y-Yeah," she said simply, her voice showing hints of disclosure and secrecy.

She could hear her mum shuffle around the door for a moment, contemplating on whether to leave or stay. She decided on the latter and gave out a light sigh. "Sakura, you know you can talk to me if you need to," she said uncertainly. It was awkward, considering that they had never had a real, mother-daughter talk before.

Sakura looked down into the clear bath water, her heart clenching uncomfortably. "…I know."

"…So, just take care of yourself, love." She slowly moved away from the door, her footsteps were growing distant. However, Sakura's voice shouted quickly after.

"Mum!" She was calling her back, and her mum complied and went back to listening through the door. "I'm sorry I haven't been the best of daughters recently."

Her mum smiled lightly. If she could have been by Sakura's side, she would have stroked her hair softly and pulled her towards her chest.

"I've been keeping secrets from you and dad."

Her ears picked up at this, but she didn't say a word, willing her daughter to carry on and elaborate further.

However, it was silent on the other end. Mrs. Haruno bit her lip lightly, curious as to what Sakura was talking about. But she didn't seem ready to tell, so her mum walked silently away from the door, not another word being shared between them.

Sakura was still in her bath, her knees involuntarily tucking themselves into her chest again. She could feel the steady heartbeats in her chest, until she unfolded her body and exited the bath. Dripping wet, she moved across her empty bedroom and tucked herself into her duvet, not bothering to towel herself or to change into clean clothes. And just like that she disappeared into a deep slumber as soon as her eyes drifted close.

.&.

Throughout the day, Sakura had awaked numerous times, but had only gotten up twice to go to the toilet and to finally get dressed into a set of pajamas. She didn't eat for the entire day and her stomach felt like it was touching her back. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional.

It wasn't until the next morning, when her alarm clock sounded out, that she actually knew somewhere in the depths of her mind that she needed to get up. She switched the alarm off, pulled the duvets closer to her and attempted to return to the recesses of her mind. However, the twenty-four hours of sleep had left a dull sense of consciousness in her system. Her eyes were fully open, but she just lay there staring at her bland ceilings.

She groaned lightly when she realized it was school today. To make matters worse, she still had two more detentions to complete, and she saddened slightly in disappointment when she realized that Sasuke would be in none of them with her.

She didn't feel like going to school and facing reality. For the entire Sunday, she had isolated herself from society and civilization, and she didn't want to go back to all the drama.

However, before she could protest and feign illness to her parents for a day-off, her bedroom door slammed open. Sakura instinctively pulled the duvets over her in an immature defensive action and buried her head in her pillow.

"Sakura! Wakey-wakey!" It was Ino's ever-enthusiastic voice. "Your mum let me in." She sat down on the side of Sakura's bed and lifted the covers off Sakura's body. "Naruto told me everything that happened at the party," Ino said, stroking her hair lightly sympathetically.

Sakura's face contorted to puzzlement and she slowly and cautiously lifted her head out of the pillow to face Ino. "How does he know? He wasn't there." Urh… her voice was hollow and hoarse. As well as not eating anything for the entirety of a day, she had barely drunken anything either.

"He _saw _everything. He was still at the party when Sasuke left to find you. He was worried sick, you know – he was looking for the entire night. He thought you had gotten run over or something," Ino laughed lightly.

Sakura frowned. "I don't care about him." It was more difficult than she thought to get these words out of her mouth. She was trying to persuade Ino that it was true, but she had to convince herself of it first. "Why didn't Naruto just give me away and tell Sasuke I was still at the party?"

"I guess, he felt kind of… sorry for you. He understood that all you wanted was to be a lone wolf for just one night. Dancing and drinking in a sea of strangers – he knew you wanted this, or so he told me."

"But he's Sasuke's friend…"

"He's your friend as well!" Ino incredulously stated.

Sakura winced in pain. Now that Sasuke and she had more or less separated, it was funny that Naruto still claimed himself as her friend.

"Are you sure about that?" Sakura asked, feeling like it wouldn't be right if she still kept in touch with Naruto. Her and Sasuke would tear the whole group apart.

"Dummy, of course he's still your friend. Do you not know Naruto _at all_? He wouldn't let something like this get in the way of a friendship."

Sakura smiled at this, the first time she had smiled since too long.

Ino smiled and then nudged her lightly on the arm. "You don't remember much, do you?"

Sakura close her eyes, before shaking her head.

"Well, as I said, Naruto saw _everything_… Apparently, you have some really _provocative_ moves…" Ino stifled a giggle as she said this and Sakura immediately shot up, gripping Ino's arm with a shaky hand.

"Oh god, I need to speak to Naruto!" Sakura urged, suddenly feeling terribly ashamed. She pushed the duvet off her in a messy disarray.

She went to have a quick shower, knowing full well that she was submitting to school. She kept the bathroom door slightly ajar to speak to Ino through.

"Ino, you heard about it all, didn't you?" The sound of her voice was slightly muffled by the water, but Ino couldn't mistake the angst in her voice.

"Yeah…" she replied. "…Just know that I'm here for you."

"What am I going to do today? I don't know if I should speak to him." Sakura's good nature was getting the better of her, because, even though she knew there could never be a justifiable excuse for what he did, she still felt like being obedient to him.

"Have you heard his side of the story yet? I think he tried numerously calling you to tell you, but you wouldn't pick up."

"I threw my phone at a wall yesterday morning."

"…Ah."

"I didn't know there was '_another side to the story'_," Sakura muttered indignantly.

"Lesson number one, Sakura," Ino instructed, "There's _always _another side. I mean, it could be utter bullshit, but it could be the closest thing to the truth that you'll ever hear – It's just up to you to make that decision."

Sakura gulped, suddenly very worried. "I don't want to make that decision. I don't want the responsibility. It's a choice to choose between 'Sasuke' and 'Sakura' or 'Sasuke _and_ Sakura'."

Ino had now lost her completely, so she answered back neutrally. "Just give him a chance, Sakura. Go to school today, and if he wants to explain himself, listen till he's finished talking, and then go with your _heart_."

Sakura didn't answer to that. She was thinking about the advice, and then she nodded her head silently, even though Ino couldn't see it.

When Sakura stepped out of the shower, there was already a clean set of her school uniform lying to the side, all folded up. She smiled and silently changed.

With the help of Ino, she sorted out her hair and ran a brush through the infinite amount of knots.

And then she was practically ready to go. Ino had tried to urge her to eat some breakfast but Sakura highly doubted that she would be able to get something down her throat without it wanting to come back up again.

"I swear, I'm so jealous – I think I need to break up with Shikamaru soon, so I can lose as much weight as you have," Ino joked pulling at the nonexistent flab on Sakura's arms as they were on their journey towards school.

"Speaking of Shikamaru… how did that talk go with him the other night?" she asked curiously.

"I told him how I felt about him and Temari… he brushed it off like it was nothing. And then, I flipped and there was this whole drama and we were both completely yelling at each other. But then, we had wild make-up sex afterwards and-"

"Whoa! Too much detail!" Sakura cried, wishing she had never heard that. But then, she realized that her best friend was no longer a virgin anymore, and her face contorted from disgust into sacred disbelief. Ino's hand was clamped over her mouth at the accidental slip-up. "You lost your virginity? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Ino laughed nervously before she sheepishly grinned. "It was last week… I was going to tell you soon!"

"You're saying that 'soon' is 'a week later'? I think you'll find, it should be pronounced, '_im-me-di-ate-ly_'."

"I know," Ino said guiltily, "but I knew you were going to flip! I knew you would make a really big deal out of it all."

"Er, probably because it _is_ a big deal! You know, you'll never get that back!" Sakura said, preaching to her best friend like a grown-up.

Ino pointed an accusing finger, before coming up with the best come-back she could possibly muster at that moment. "Oh hush! The virgin doesn't get a say!"

* * *

_Made with: love, gaiety and coffee._

_Oh, exciting news (that has nothing to do with the story) - my daddy booked the tickets to HK in the summer! Woo, i'm sosososososo excited ;) See you all there, wearing nothing but my sunglasses!_

_Additionally, (news that has nothing to do with the story) Willow Smith's braids are surely a potential threat to herself and everyone around her :/ Why wear them?_


	23. Love, Save the Empty

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 23_

_Stars feel like knives,_  
_They tell us why we're fighting._  
_Storm, wait outside,_  
_Oh, love, hold us together. _

_ - Erin McCarley_

* * *

Sakura and Ino were only ten minutes away from the school when Ino's phone vibrated in her pocket, informing her of a new text. She skimmed through it and her eyes widened slightly. She gulped nervously before pushing her mobile to Sakura, urging her to take it and read the contents of the text.

Sakura's eyes hardened as she read through it.

…

_From: __Sasuke_

_To: __Ino_

_I'm really hoping you're with Sakura right now, so could you please tell her to meet me on the school roof. I need to talk with her desperately._

…

Before Ino could stop her, Sakura furiously hit the reply button and typed in a message out of her aggravation.

"Sakura, what are you-?" Ino said, flaying her arms out to try and snatch the mobile out of Sakura's untrustworthy hands. However, Sakura had pressed send before Ino could get to her.

Ino limped as Sakura calmly gave the phone back and continued to walk on with her head held high as if nothing had just happened.

Ino flicked through her sent messages and right at the top of the list was Sasuke's name.

…

_From: Ino_

_To: Sasuke_

_SAKURA SAYS: WE'RE OVER._

…

Ino stared at her screen incredulously. "You said you would give him a chance to explain his side of the story!"

Sakura shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I changed my mind." Hearing from him had reset all the initial anger she had felt after seeing him with Karin at the party. She thought that she could have been able to face him but after she had seen his text, the dread, fear, aggravation and melancholy had resurfaced. There was no chance of meeting up with Sasuke when she felt about ready to have a break-down.

"What is your problem?" Ino cried, stopping Sakura in her tracks. "Stop being such a bloody coward and go and talk to him!" She pointed towards the school roof as they were standing outside of the gates.

However, Sakura didn't have the chance to sting back at Ino with a clever retort, as at that moment they were both walking on to school grounds and were attacked with an army of people staring at her.

It was like déjà vu, but on a much larger, more intimidating scale. Their eyes were emptied of every other emotion except for pity. But Goddamnit, she didn't _want_ their fucking pity. She had just broken up with her boyfriend, yet they couldn't seem to spare her the light of day, and leave her alone for at least a few fleeting minutes to have some time to gather her thoughts – alone.

.&.

Sasuke had received Sakura's message, via Ino's phone. But nevertheless, he had stayed persistent and planned to wait on the school roof until she got the message that he was never leaving until he got a chance to speak to her.

The roof reminded him of that day when she had confessed to him, only for him to shoot her down. It was perhaps the biggest mistake he had ever made. But now, in retrospect, he realized that going to Matsuri's party was the biggest regret. If he had dissuaded Sakura from going in the first place, he wouldn't have let events roll out the way they did. He wouldn't have gotten so drunk and did what he did. But he couldn't go back on that now. The only way to win Sakura now, was to talk to her, explain everything and let the past be forgiven and forgotten.

But something else caught the corner of his eye as he impatiently paced up and down the cement roof floor. It was dizzy looking too far over the wired railings, but it looked like a whole crowd of students were circularly gathered around something… or _someone_.

Squinting to try and get a closer look, he immediately startled back when his onyx pupils focused onto the unmistakable head of pink. He could just see the uncomfortable, squeamish look that was evident on her dainty face. Everybody around her was acting like she was some sort of contagious disease. They were harassing her whilst whispering in each other's ears about the bias rumors that they had encountered over the weekend.

Before he could think twice, Sasuke was desperately running down the stairs to ground level, where the crazy scene around Sakura was growing into an all-out riot.

"Is it true that you walked in on them having sex?"

"Did you really nut him so hard that he's now infertile?"

"My mum says that the split up is going to ruin the whole of the Uchiha Company!"

Sasuke frowned as some of the comments reached his ears, but he didn't let it get to him. He pushed through the crowd, eventually reaching the focus.

"Sakura, are you alright?" He gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, attempting to coax her into forgiveness. He was almost expecting her to run into his arms from the utterly frightened look that was adorning her face. She looked so fragile and vulnerable.

However, it was a rude awakening when her soft features warped suddenly into that of disdain. She forcefully shrugged his hand off her shoulder, turning abruptly away from him.

"Sakura, wait," he pleaded, holding out his hands as a symbol that he wasn't going to do anything to her.

She was offended that he thought that she would be totally fine with him. Sure, they were in a public place, but if he thought that she was going to go easy to him, he should have known better.

"For fuck's sake, Sasuke! Get the hell away from me. Get it through to your thick brain that we're _done_!"

Her tone was dagger-sharp as she vehemently placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away. She continued to push past him, their shoulders clashing purposefully in an act of hostility. She walked away, Ino hopelessly chasing after her. But before Ino could go too far, she quickly turned around in her haste, and shouted over her shoulder and over the riot noise, "I'll try and talk some sense into her, Sasuke, but don't count on anything!"

He frowned when the view of the two best friends was suddenly replaced by students desperately wanting answers. Ashamed, he stalked off, with his hands casually buried in his pockets. But nothing could mistake the rare, hurt frown on his face.

.&.

Naruto startled slightly in his chair as Sakura and Ino stormed into the room, straight towards his table. Sakura's hand had immediately slammed down onto his desktop. "I want answers," she demanded.

"If it isn't the little minx," he replied nonchalantly, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair with an all-knowing look.

"Naruto!" she angrily shouted as she reached forward and grabbed his collar. "What the fuck happened on Saturday?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruto said, his infamously cheeky grin adorning his chubby features.

She growled lowly and almost brought his face to touching distance with her own. "Let me make this clear – if you don't stop fucking me around right now, I will cut your balls off and shove them so far up your arse, that you'll see stars."

"…Kinky."

"Naruto!"

She knew he was only being his usual, tongue-in-cheek self. However, she wasn't in the mood for his smart-alec antics. She gritted her teeth and was about to move her hand to slap some sense into him, but his hand instinctually moved in between them, flaying for her to stop.

She did so, but her annoyed features expressed that she was hanging on her very last thread.

"Are you really ready to hear this?"

Sakura gulped a little at this. Was it really that bad? Everything that happened after she had saw Sasuke with Karin was all a big blur, pixilated in every sense.

She nodded her head gravely, like she was walking to the noose.

"Well, shortly after Sasuke left the house in pursuit of you down the street, stupidly trying to follow your trail of puke, I saw you take a bottle of Smirnoff upstairs. You spent about 30 minutes up there, doing God knows what, until I saw you clambering back down the stairs looking completely out of it."

Sakura was engrossed and sat down at a table beside him.

"Obviously completely wasted."

She raised her eyebrows at him, as he pulled another mischievous smirk.

"Anyways, you went out into the garden, I followed shortly after but by the time I got out, you were already grinding against some guy with a joint hanging from your lips."

Sakura's eyes widened at this, no voice managing to make it out of her mouth, until she murmured a low, barely audible, "Shit".

"No worries though," he started, in which Sakura sat gaping at him, "the joint wasn't lit."

You could practically see all the air being released out of Sakura in one, long sigh of relief. But still, she just had to ask for reassurance. "Are you definitely sure I wasn't smoking pot?"

"No, you weren't smoking pot… but you were smoking hot." Naruto couldn't resist saying the cheesy one-liner, to which he burst out in a fit of childish, but adorable, giggles.

Sakura impatiently hit him around the head, but internally she too was chuckling at his wit.

"What happened after?" she asked.

"Well, one moment you were there, and the next you were gone – into the living room. You were playing strip poker… but less of the 'poker' and more of the 'strip'…"

"Oh no…" she said gravely, but then the dots miraculously connected. "Is that why I woke up practically naked the next day?"

"LOL," he literally said (although he wasn't even laughing-out-loud…) "Wish I'd have seen it… But I went hopping to another party at around 2-ish, so I couldn't say."

Sakura nodded solemnly, but she was sincerely glad she had come to Naruto to figure everything out and unveil those drunken moments.

"So, what are you going to do about Sasuke now?" Naruto asked with a genuine glint of anxiety present in his cerulean eyes. "I mean, I don't want you two to split – you've been like a little sister to me in the time that I've really gotten to know you."

Sakura's heart melted a little at the sincere speech, but in all honesty, she didn't know what she was going to do about the whole Sasuke incident. "I can still be your sister," she uttered meekly.

Naruto smiled slightly. "Do you want to get back with him?" Naruto asked with a sympathetic undertone.

Sakura frowned, before her face turned into that of hurt. "I won't lie… I do want to get back with him." She looked away, ashamed that she had admitted that, but a voice snapped her out and she whipped her head around to the source at the door.

"Then get back with me."

It was Sasuke, grasping onto the doorframe with an equally hurt look. His normally emotionless eyes were so full with feelings that Sakura was completely overwhelmed.

Her face fleeted over that of off-guard surprise. She turned to him completely and their eyes locked in a gripping moment, one that felt like they were the only ones in the room, even though Naruto and Ino sat behind them, gawking at the turnout.

Sakura swallowed a hard, nervous lump in her throat before, in a small voice, she coarsely said, "I'm sorry Sasuke… But you're going to have to really work for my forgiveness."

She stormed past as he stood static with a crestfallen look of disappoint on his face. It took several moments before his eyes took on a stronger perseverance. "Better get to work then," he said with a cheerier grin, confident that he was going to successfully woo Sakura back.

* * *

_I am soooo sorry! I know I haven't updated in forever, but i've been too busy and my sister's back home from uni, so you know how it gets. And it really takes it out of me, trying to write a new chapter, but I will update more often so i can get this finished by July (with a bit a luck and ALOT of caffeine)._

_But this Friday, you know what's happening! I, for one, am veryy excited, because Kate looks like a doll and she is actually living the dream that every little girl wishes for, so jel! _

_Kate & Will Forever!_


	24. Stars

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 24_

_You make me wanna measure stars  
In the backyard with a calculator and a ruler baby  
__I found a letter that describes how the moonlight  
__Will lead me to the distant place that you will be_

_ - Au Revoir Simone_

* * *

At the east side of the town that Sakura lived in, was a dainty, inconspicuous café behind alleys and tall, looming buildings. It was always almost empty whenever Sakura sat down to have a mug of the world's best coffee, but that's what attracted her so much. It was peaceful and she was sure that no one would ever know that she hid out here whenever she felt upset by anything.

The café was one of the hidden jewels of the town, where sorbet walls and mini teacups were acceptable without having to go hand-in-hand with the word 'lolita'. There were even lace doilies!

Sakura was sat in the corner, just to feel a little comfort at the isolation of it all. She could reflect upon everything and not have to feel _lonely_.

Totally absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't even notice when the waitress walked up to her with a shy blush still evident on her cheeks. She spoke in a small, mouse-like voice, with a modest smile, "Excuse me, miss, but a handsome man dropped this letter off at the door, and instructed me to give it to you."

Sakura looked utterly bewildered when the waitress handed her a simple white envelope with no traces of who it came from or who it was for. But Sakura knew that Sasuke was somehow in on this. After all, why else was the waitress blushing and addressing him as a _'handsome man'_?

After the waitress left, Sakura cautiously flipped it over in her hands, before she nimbly opened it, her fingers numb with anticipation.

Inside was a small card with only a fragment of spidery writing on it.

_the cherry tree on the top of our hill in 10 _

Sakura had to inspect the piece of card further to make sure there weren't any more clues. What was written just wasn't enough to satisfy the curiosity that ate away inside her.

But the fact that it said '_our hill_' hinted that it was definitely Sasuke who wrote the card. A few weeks ago, they had spent a whole weekend together on a hill, which was only a 5 minute walk from the café, under a blooming cherry tree. They camped under the stars and watched as night turned into dawn. It was one of the best weekends of Sakura's life; no matter how much she despised Sasuke, she could never lie about that.

Immediately abandoning the rest of her mug of coffee, she ran out of the café, and when she was out the door, she looked around her, trying to see that familiar face, who somehow knew where she was, even though she had never told him.

She was sure that he couldn't have gotten very far. But to get to the hill, you had to go through a bustling main street and then back into a deserted alley until you got to a fork in the road, where you went left. The path would suddenly stop, and there would only be a wooded area, in which Sakura used her sharp intuition to weave her through the trees. And then, if you knew where you were going, there would be a clearing, with Sasuke and Sakura's hill and the celebrated cherry tree on its peak.

Once she reached her intended destination, her feet slowed down to a soft walking pace and she climbed her way up the steep side until she saw the first sights of the tree bark. On the grass, lying in the sunshine was the person she was exactly expecting; Sasuke, in dark aviators and levi's.

He got up when he spotted her coming up the hill, brushing off the dirt from his jeans casually.

Sakura didn't even give a polite greeting, but instead she went straight into it. "How did you find me at the café?" Her voice wasn't malicious and the bluntness didn't catch Sasuke off guard.

"By chance," he casually shrugged, "I was passing by and saw you go into the café."

She looked at him skeptically but let it slide. Just as she was going to say something, Sasuke immediately cut-in.

"I wanted to tell you something," he said, with an earnest look glimmering in his eyes. "I need to explain to you what really happened."

At those words, Sakura exasperatedly turned around to leave, thinking that she knew what he was about to say, but Sasuke quickly grabbed onto her arm and gently pulled her back.

"Please," Sasuke pleaded vulnerably.

At that, Sakura felt completely inclined to stay. "Make it quick," she said coldly, whilst looking down at her wrist watch, "I need to get home soon." Of course it was a lie but it was Sakura's safety parachute out of there, in case it got uncomfortably awkward.

"I know what it looked like at Matsuri's party, but you've got to understand that it wasn't like that at all."

"Oh," Sakura commented sarcastically, "And then you'll tell me something cliché, like 'I didn't kiss her; she kissed me!'" She raised a thin eyebrow and looked him in the eye seriously, "Right?"

Exhaustedly, Sasuke looked down, not wanting to agree that it was exactly how Sakura had put it. "Listen," he said, grabbing both her arms just below the shoulder, "You walked out of that room and Karin found the chance to strike. She walked in like she owned the room and you could sense something in her gait that cried mischief. You've got to understand that I was not as drunk as you think I was – certainly not as drunk to kiss Karin willingly, which is why it was _not _a mutual kiss."

Sakura's back straightened in curiosity for a moment when she heard this. "You looked pretty into it from what I saw."

He gave out a little chortle of a laugh when she said this.

"What's so funny?" She found it inexplicably annoying when he found her seriousness so amusing.

"Well for starters, we're talking about me and _Karin_ here. Do you seriously think that I wanted to kiss _Karin_? Of all people, _Karin_?"

"Okay, okay…" Sakura said exhaustedly, "I get your point." She thought that if she heard that name again, she would shoot herself.

"Do you believe me? I wouldn't want anyone else but you, Sakura. You wouldn't believe how madly I am in love with you."

Sakura couldn't help but for her lips to upturn slightly. "Do those cheesy lines ever get old?" she asked facetiously. "You know, you broke my heart."

"I'll fix it."

"It shattered into a million pieces."

"I'll do whatever it takes."

"It's going to take a lot."

"I'll do anything."

She smiled at something that was residing in the air when they talked. It was the typical banter that you would hear from a couple.

"Anything?" Sakura innocently asked.

"Anything," he reiterated.

"Okay," she said smoothly, "you can start by buying me lunch at the new patisserie that opened."

He smiled in relief, his shoulders sagging. "Deal," he said with ease. Like a gentleman, Sasuke held out his hand to her before they started their trek down the hill. They started chatting like nothing had happened whilst they were hand-in-hand, and Sasuke even reached down to kiss her forehead affectionately.

"I feel like shopping as well, Sasuke," she said whimsically, "Take me shopping."

She smiled when he obediently agreed and then knew that he wasn't lying when he said he'd do anything for her forgiveness.

* * *

_It feels like I should be in school right now, which subsequently makes me feel really naughty. But it's bank holiday monday, so I get a whole day to do sod all nothing._

_I still can't believe that on Friday, I managed to watch the whole Royal Wedding from start to finish religiously. I saw the whole ceremony and the whole anticipatory celebrations starting at 8. And now it's made me thoroughly jealous of Kate, who wore the most gorgeous Sarah Burton dress ever. And Pippa is not prettier than her._


	25. The Ghost Who Walks

_Love Bite. _

_Chapter 25_

_He kissed her cheek, _  
_But with her knife in his hand,_  
_He plunged it in deep._

_ - Karen Elson_

* * *

The next day, they were talking over coffee by a two-seat table next to a window. As they peacefully people-watched, Sasuke out-of-the-blue said something that Sakura didn't quite catch the first time.

"What?" she asked, hoping that what she _thought_ she heard wasn't actually what he said.

He spoke up a bit more clearly this time, but Sakura still didn't like what she heard.

"I'm going to visit Itachi at the psychiatric hospital," is what he said.

Sakura's mouth kind of involuntarily dropped open. "What? Why?" Her voice was completely incredulous, but for all good reasons: Itachi nearly tried to kill her and Sakura knew that Sasuke hated him with passion.

"I know what you're thinking," he reassured, "but it's my mum's wish. She says that Itachi's still my brother and apparently, he asked to see me. It seems that my mum still does anything he says." Sasuke gave a disapproving look, aimed at nothing in particular.

"So, you're actually going?" Sakura still couldn't quite believe his stupidity.

"Of course. I'm a mummy's boy at heart," he added half-jokingly (but half-serious).

Despite the light-hearted tone of Sasuke's voice, Sakura still couldn't quite grasp the idea. However, as she was staring into her coffee mug intently, she was silently thinking of a way to dissuade Sasuke. She was frightened of Itachi and what he would do to Sasuke, which is why Sakura said what she said:

"If you insist on going, I insist on coming with you." Okay, so she was internally kicking herself at saying something even more stupid than his idea. But in a way, Sakura felt like she would be Sasuke's safety net if anything were to go wrong.

It was Sasuke's turn to look incredulous. "Bullshit. You aren't coming and that's that."

Sakura's face contorted to disbelief. "I have as much right to visit as you do!"

"But you might get hurt… _again_," he said, as his teeth gritted in anger. Whether he was getting angry at Sakura or at Itachi for what he did, she had no idea. But it didn't give her a reason to back down.

"I can look after myself if that's what you're worried about." Her voice held a semblance of venom in its undertones.

"We both know what Itachi is like and we both know that he's completely capable of crossing the line between human morals – he's a sociopath." His voice was resolute and steely but Sakura couldn't let it go without a fight.

"He won't be able to hurt me if there are security guards and orderlies in the same visiting room as us." This last point persuaded Sasuke but Sakura kept going. "And plus, you said you'd do _anything_ for me," she smiled triumphantly when her statement drew a defeated look on Sasuke's face. "So do this for me: let me go with you to visit Itachi."

And that was that. The next day, Sasuke drove up to the psychiatric hospital's car park with Sakura in his passenger seat. She had remained cheerful throughout the journey, but once he had pulled up in front of the crusting white building, the nerves took over and she fell silent beneath the looming presence of the hospital.

Sasuke stepped out of his black convertible, Sakura following his lead.

"Are you not taking that with you?" Sakura asked, as he watched him pull out his wallet and his mobile from his back pocket and reach over to store them in the glove box.

"We're only allowed our keys in the visiting room," he said simply. Then as an afterthought, he said, "You better do the same."

She frowned in displeasure but pulled her mobile out of her pocket and into the glove box.

"You ready?" he asked comfortingly. She nodded unsurely, but nevertheless, they entered the reception of the hospital and were courteously led through many locked doors by a security guard.

The place was dressed in white, just like the psychiatric wards portrayed in movies. They were taken into a room with no windows, only two doors and about ten tables in the centre. The two of them, along with other visitors, sat down at a separate table, whilst the second door, which they hadn't entered from, was opened and the patients came in.

Sakura's stomach churned as she saw the emotionless eyes of Itachi walk into the room. The temperature seemingly lowered to about ten degrees, and Sakura couldn't help but to grasp Sasuke's hand with her own underneath the table.

Itachi spotted them from across the room and stoically walked over, his head dipped. He sat down opposite the two of them without making eye-contact, but as soon as he looked up, his eyes connected with Sasuke's.

"What's she doing here?" His tone had prominent signs of hatred in it and Sakura internally winced at his coldness. He spoke as if Sakura wasn't in the room.

"You'll be nice, Itachi, or else I'll leave here and never visit you again," said Sasuke in a rather maternal voice, like he was talking to a small child.

Even so, the sleek, sophisticated façade that Sakura had seen in Itachi had disappeared and left underneath it was a childish, vulnerable exterior. She could tell that Itachi doted on his little brother, like he looked up to him. Obviously, time in the "loony bin" had changed him.

Sasuke was passive when Itachi threw an immature pout at him.

"But I can't talk to you in private," Itachi whispered, leaning forward towards his brother and cupping his mouth with both his hands, scared that Sakura would be able to lip-read what he was saying, even though his whispers were audible from where she sat.

Sakura looked slightly disturbed, but Sasuke took it all calmly. "Sakura will be a part of our private talks, whether you like it or not."

Itachi frowned deeply, carving in lines around his forehead and more around his eyes. Now that Sakura looked, she could see how sallow his cheeks had become and how empty his eyes looked. However, when he turned to her, a feeling of ferocity returned.

He looked deeply into her, glaring at her doll face. He knew that he couldn't persuade Sasuke about his girl, so all he had to rely on now was himself. "Please leave me and Sasuke alone for a minute." His addressing voice sent a troop of shivers down her spine. The way he was looking at her was dangerous and she had to break eye-contact; she felt like she was strangled of all her breath just looking into his abyss eyes.

"Itachi," Sasuke scolded, bringing his brother's attention back. "Sakura will not leave this table-"

"It's all right, Sasuke," Sakura said, trying to put on a smile to cover her frightened features. She pushed her chair back and walked quickly over to the opposite side of the room and sat down on an empty table. '_Anything to get away from him_,' she silently thought to herself. She hadn't realized it before but her palms were sweating with the uneasy feelings she got from Itachi.

She couldn't hear anything they said over the buzzing conversations of all the other patients and their families, but from their expressions and gestures, she guessed it was only small talk. From where she sat, she could see how delighted Itachi was at being able to talk to his brother, but Sasuke obviously felt differently and the hatred that Sasuke had always felt for Itachi was still present.

They exchanged a few nods and the like between them before Sasuke turned around and gestured to her to come back to the table.

She sat down calmly in her previous seat, although she could feel dread at being in the same proximity as Itachi.

"Sasuke," Itachi said authoritatively, "It's your turn to go; I want to speak to Sakura now."

"Oh no you don't," Sasuke said immediately after. "I'm not going anywhere."

At those words, Itachi looked up at him with a frighteningly haunting expression, like he was trying to extract pity from Sasuke. When he got no response, Itachi's gaze turned to Sakura's and she could see a little twinkle in his gaze, as if to taunt 'I know something you don't know.'

No matter how much she was afraid of Itachi, she couldn't keep all of the curiosity that plagued her conscience away.

"Sasuke, it's okay. I'll be fine." She wasn't 100% certain that everything was going to be dandy, but she wanted to take the risk and see if she could unveil anything more about the enigmatic character of Itachi.

Sasuke looked skeptically on, as Sakura tried to connect with him using only her eyes. She was trying to assure him that she wanted badly to see what Itachi had to say to her in private.

Sasuke more or less got the message, but nevertheless, he only took two steps back from the table, where he stood looming over them, barely in hearing range of their conversation. When they started talking lowly, he couldn't hear a word.

Itachi leaned forward to grab Sakura's full attention. "How's life been?"

His casualness put Sakura on edge and she narrowed her eyes before replying with a simple, "Fine."

"Are you scared, Sakura?" his voice was low and quiet, as to not aware Sasuke that something in the air had stirred.

"No," she said, as she was gritting her teeth and lying blatantly. He could sense the fear in her, clear as day, but he wanted to play with her.

"How are you and Sasuke doing?" he asked passively, trying to look like he really wasn't very interested even though he was hanging on to every word that she said.

"Lovely, thanks for asking," she said. If he wanted to play, she would play. She leaned forward, like he was doing previously, except Itachi felt the need to back away slightly in surprise. There was something in her eye that spelled out she now had the upper hand. "The little charade you pulled – you know, trying to kill me – it really brought me and Sasuke closer. I'm ever grateful for that."

She smiled an infamous 'Itachi' smile. It was dripping with fakeness.

"How does that make you feel?" Sakura asked, a sleek eyebrow raised. She made sure that Sasuke couldn't hear, as she didn't know what was coming over her. This new, manipulative female, who was leading Itachi into the biggest trap of his life, was invigorating and foreign, and Sakura felt a new sense of supremacy. "How does it make you feel that I'm beating you at your own game?"

Sakura swore she saw a spark of anger in Itachi that made his eyes flash crimson.

In a second, she felt his hot breath behind her right ear. She looked up in alarm at his seat, but it was empty and a sudden panic swept across her like a fever.

She sprang from her chair in terror, like there were hot coals on it. She could feel him pressing up against her back, and in that moment she was transported back to the morning of Matsuri's party, when she had a nightmare of someone chasing her. She hadn't paid much heed to it, but feeling Itachi so close to her reminded her that the screaming man sounded exactly like his maddened cries.

In her obviousness, Itachi managed to instantly twist her arm around behind her back. She winced in pain, but nothing compared to when he twisted it too far back. She heard a haunting crack and then it came on like a thunderstorm. All she felt was pain flooding up her arm. She screamed and grabbed the attention of Sasuke and the orderlies. They instantly came rushing to help her and tried to pry Itachi off, but before they could get him off, she felt him whisper malicious words into her ear.

"If you want to play, I'll play." His words resonated in her head, even after they had pulled him off her. She could see orderlies sedating Itachi from his erratic high, before dragging him through the doors that he initially came through.

.&.

She awoke in a bland white room, feeling light-headed, and then she noticed the slight pain which resided in her right arm. She looked around her in alarm, and noticed she was in hospital attire in a single room with a flower bouquet next to her bed. She looked down at her arm, and noticed it was in a cast and sling. That's when the whole incident with Itachi came flooding back to her memory.

The door suddenly slid open and in walked Sasuke carefully carrying a cup of coffee. When he looked up, his face lit up.

"Sakura, you're awake," he said considerately, placing his coffee cup on her bedside table.

She cheekily took a sip before smiling up at him. "Yeah, my arm's starting to hurt again though."

"It's broken," Sasuke informed her, but Sakura could sense anger rising behind his jet black eyes.

However, she didn't have time to tell him to calm down. At that moment, the door slid open again and in rushed a figure abruptly.

"Oh my god, Sakura, honey." It was her mother, obviously distressed at her current state. "What in God's name happened?" She touched her casted arm carefully, scared to hurt her anymore.

Sakura looked up again and saw her father walk in to the room, more calmly than his wife. "Sakura are you alright? Are they giving you the right painkillers?" Sakura had forgotten that her father was a doctor at a small clinic on the other side of town. Of course it was his job to make sure everything was working out just fine in this hospital.

"Hi, mum, hi, dad," she addressed both of them, giving them a light hug.

"How are you feeling?" her mother asked, to which Sakura just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "How did this happen," she waved to the broken arm.

Before Sakura could say anything, Sasuke, who had before resided at the back of the room, made himself known. "I'm extremely sorry, but it wasn't Sakura's fault. I take full responsibility."

"It was your doing?" her mother cried, looking incredulous.

"No!" Sakura cried, "It wasn't Sasuke's fault at all."

"Sasuke?" Her father had decided to join in the crazy conversation. "Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sasuke looked abash for a moment, scratching his head nervously. He wondered what his girlfriend's father had read about him in the papers. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Haruno." He held out a hand for him to shake, like they were dealing with business.

"The pleasure's all mine," Sakura's dad said humbly.

"I'm sorry, but could we cut the introductions out until later. I just want to know what happened, honey," her mother said, looking at her husband reproachfully.

Sakura took a guilty swallow, readying herself mentally to how her parents would react. "I went to visit Sasuke's older brother at the psychiatric hospital. I angered Itachi, so he broke my arm," she goofily replied.

Her mum looked confused, "I didn't think you were such good friends with the Uchiha family. Did _he _talk you into going?" Her mum pointed a sharp glare towards Sasuke.

"Mum!" Sakura replied, offended that her mum had said something so humiliating with Sasuke in the same room. "Don't even try to blame it on my boyfriend!"

Sakura bit her lip immediately after she had made the slip-up and both her parents looked utterly shocked. A deathly silence resonated throughout the room, before her mum finally broke it.

"Sasuke's your _boyfriend_?"

* * *

_Oh, Hi! _

_Yes, Itachi returned again, I lied when I said he was gone, although I didn't know at the time that I was going to put him back into the story... My mind just adores to conjure up a load of dramatic (bordering on cliche) twists. _

_As I practically share my whole life with you guys, just going to put it out there that I went to my prom on Saturday night. So good! I loved it. And I won best female hair. Which was such a joke because I honestly have the most disgusting hair ever. I want Mischa Barton's hair when it was sosososo gorgeous at one point in her life._

_Useless Babble... Again. Sorry._


	26. Majesty

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 26_

_So you let me slip away_  
_You just watched me walk away_  
_And I just have to ask_  
_Do you know your fate?_

_- Warpaint_

* * *

"Why didn't you say anything?" Sakura's mum asked incredulously. She wondered how long Sakura and Sasuke had been together, how long she had been kept away from the truth.

"What did you expect me to say? If I'd have told you, you would keep me from Sasuke, lock me in the house, even go so far as to try and make me move schools." Sakura couldn't believe that her mother was acting so unfair with all this.

And Sasuke obviously hadn't known that Sakura's parents were this strict. He had known that she hadn't told them, but for a sensible reason; Sakura's parents disapproved of boyfriends, which was natural to most families. But in Sasuke's mind, the way they would have acted if they'd have found out was never as extreme as Sakura was detailing.

Sakura's parent's guilty faces were enough evidence for Sakura's claims to be truthful.

"I didn't want to keep this away from you," Sakura said, looking pleadingly at both her mum and dad who were both clutching each other's hands at her bedside. "It's been going on for a few months; we're both really serious about this." She looked over at Sasuke who was standing with his back against the wall, his arms crossed suavely, "Right, Sasuke?"

Her parents looked over at him when he replied. "Right," he said assertively. "I love Sakura more than I've ever loved anyone, Mr. and Mrs. Haruno."

Their mouths simultaneously dropped open a fraction at the affection that was blatantly obvious in Sasuke's tone.

"And I love him too," Sakura replied, but instead of looking at her parents, she was looking lovingly into Sasuke's eyes.

Sakura's mum looked troubled. "If you don't mind, Sasuke, but could I please speak to my daughter alone?"

Sasuke looked over to Sakura for reassurance that she would be okay, and she nodded her head silently. He exit the room slowly, shutting the door behind him.

Immediately after he had left the room, Sakura's mum spun around to face her. "What is the meaning of all of this, Sakura Haruno?"

Sakura knew it was bad news if her mum used her full name. However, she stayed silent as her mum kept ranting on.

"Your father and I said no boyfriends until after all of your exams. You're so rebellious now; you're not the Sakura that we knew. God forbid, you turn into that Yamanaka child. Look where she is now: failing her academic studies, partying till 5 in the morning, smoking and doing drugs!"

At the mention of Ino, Sakura got angry, and she had every right to retaliate. "You don't know anything about Ino! And you sure as hell don't know anything about me either!"

However, after her burst of emotions, her parents looked bewildered at her, almost frightened at their own daughter. Sakura couldn't help but to feel guilty. She apologized and explained.

"I know what it must look like. You granted me the one thing that I wanted a few months back – freedom, and as soon as I got it, I also got a boyfriend… and a social life, and friends…. and I love it. I know I didn't do everything you asked, but please don't take it away from me," she pleaded, looking deeply at both her parents to try to persuade them.

It's true, the sentimental speech had really gotten to them. They had never seen Sakura so happy.

"And I still try really hard at my studies; ask any of my teachers. I'm still a straight A student, on my way to one of the best universities."

At the mention of universities, Sakura suddenly straightened up. Her parents didn't notice this, and instead said they'll think about it, not specifying whether they agreed to Sakura's new way of life or not. They exit her room to get something to eat from the hospital canteen, before Sasuke came back in.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, as he saw Sakura's paled expression. "Do you want me to call you a nurse?" He was about to reach over her to press her buzzer, but Sakura spoke up before he could.

"Sasuke, do you remember our initial deal?"

He looked at her, confusion apparent on his face. "Yeah, of course, it was something like, if you helped me get to know Ino better, I would help you to try and get you into a top university."

"Yeah, that's the one," Sakura replied, an unfathomable worry tainting her features.

They only had a few months left to pick an option for next year, but Sakura was so caught up with Sasuke and her new social life, that she hadn't given it a second thought, until now. Some people had already narrowed their choices down to five universities, which they were applying to but she hadn't lifted a finger; writing out her personal statement, filling in application forms, naught.

"You haven't already tried to get me in any universities, have you?" She narrowed her eyes at him, silently begging for him to say no.

"Well…" he scratched his head goofily, "I wanted it to be a surprise, but I gave a few calls here and there and confirmed places for you even before they're open to applicants." He gave her a cheeky wink, laying out her future so casually it made her angry.

'_Is that even possible?' _she internally thought, flabbergasted at Sasuke's influence and global power as heir to the Uchiha&Co. throne.

"Now it's your choice; you have places from all over the world, it's just a matter of becoming an international student, which I'm sure you're absolutely fine with. After all, there are barely any top ranking universities on this side of the world. Luckily, I only picked the ones that I knew you and your parents would be satisfied with; Harvard, Cambridge, UCL… wherever you want to go, it's completely possible." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly but really he was silently wishing for her happiness.

However, Sakura's reaction was a far cry from the one he expected. "No, no, no, no!" She had started uncertainly, but her voice rose in volume.

"What?" Sasuke asked, confused out of his wits.

"I was stupid when I made that deal with you. I've realized that I need to get into a university on my own."

"But I'm giving it to you as a sort of present." She felt sorry for his disappointed expression, but if Sasuke really wanted her happiness, he should understand what she was trying to get through.

"I want to go to all of those universities that you just listed so desperately, but at the end of the day, I know that the fact that I only got in was because of your influence will plague my conscience, and I will not be able to live through that."

He looked solemnly at the floor and she could tell that he had genuinely put so much effort into making the calls to the universities, trying to find some way though the labyrinthine admin.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," she said, holding out her free hand for him to take, encouraging him to come nearer to her bedside. "But you've got to withdraw my position. Please call them back and ask if I could have another chance which is unbiased and unaffected by you or anybody else. I'm so sorry, Sasuke, but I _have_ to do this for myself."

Sasuke was reluctant at first, but he, albeit disappointedly, nodded his head and silently agreed. He would do it for her, as he understood her claims; he just felt sad that all his work was all for nothing. Although he had agreed that he would do anything for her, which he would certainly see through.

As for Sakura, she knew she really needed to step up her game and find a university. She hadn't left herself much time, so she immediately got onto her laptop and ordered a million prospectuses, happy that she was doing this her own way.

* * *

_Had my first two GCSE exams today for English and French. One word: fail._

_But I think others would agree that the English paper was actually quite easy, but compared to my friend's 12 page answer, my 5 pages seem so menial. For those who also sat it, how many pages did you write? _

_2 down, 10 to go._


	27. Crystalised

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 27_

_You don't move slow_  
_And taking steps in my direction._  
_The sound resounds, echo,_  
_Does it lessen your affection?_

_ - The XX_

* * *

Since Sakura had come home from the hospital with a cast and sling around her arm, she had gotten into constant arguments with her parents. It wasn't something that she wanted, but she felt she really needed to put her foot down when it came to controlling her own life. She was mature and sensible, so what should stop her from being independent?

After another argument, she slammed her door to her bedroom and slapped, face down, on top of her bed, hugging her duvet covers closely to her chest. She screamed into her pillow with frustration before she felt around for her phone. She wanted to escape into the depths of Sasuke's velvet voice.

But then she remembered the basis of their earlier argument; her parents had confiscated her mobile so she couldn't contact her boyfriend. She thought this was wholly unfair. She dipped her head into her feather pillows once more in boredom, racking her brains as to what she could do to kill time.

However, she heard the resounding ringing of the front door. Her mum got it, and she heard the low murmurs of conversation, before her mum evidently invited the person in, offering biscuits and tea in a terrible 'mum' sort of way.

Sakura, plagued with curiosity, crept to the staircase, where she sat at the top of the stairs and listened intently through the wooden railings at a slice of the conversation.

The voices which were exchanged were familiar. It was a woman's voice, about the same age as her mum. It wasn't until the polite addressing of the said person did it click in Sakura's mind who it was.

"Mrs. Uchiha, I assure you, I have my daughter's future in mind when I say that I disagree with their relationship," her mother said, a bitter edge biting at the corners of her voice, as if she was uncomfortable with the topic at hand.

"And I _respect_ that decision that _you_ have made for your daughter. But don't you think that Sakura really actually _loves _my son? I don't want to sound off-putting, but Sasuke was such a wreck before he met Sakura."

"And now Sakura is a wreck from meeting Sasuke." Her mother's voice was resolute, and Sakura felt like storming into the room dramatically to change her mother's smug tone, but she didn't want it to be known that she was eavesdropping. "She never lied before. She was so _innocent_."

Sasuke's mum sighed in exasperation. "Oh come now, Mrs. Haruno. When you were Sakura's age, did you not do anything that you didn't tell your parents?" She raised her eyebrows, silently asking for a challenge. Sasuke's mum continued: "I personally started smoking when I was fifteen," she said as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I'm glad I cut that vile habit four years later."

Sakura's mum momentarily looked a bit bewildered. And then a look crossed her face that spelt out, '_If she can sprout that out willy-nilly, I certainly can too_.' She took a small breath in before revealing her most sacred secret. "I lost my virginity in my parent's bed when I was fourteen."

At the top of the stairs, Sakura had almost burnt her ears from eavesdropping. Although she appreciated the fact that her mum was a bit of a badass as well, Sakura thought it was a bit _too much_ information she had just heard.

However, Sasuke's mum found it as a fuel for encouragement. "See: we were all just as bad. Ahh, those 80's days," she nostalgically added, dreaming of the past. Sakura's mum nodded her head in agreement.

Somehow, in the next hour that ensued, Sasuke's mum managed to carry out the impossible task of persuading her mum to fully accept Sakura and Sasuke's relationship, and she walked out of their house with an air of victory and the best friend that Sakura's mum had.

"Sakura!" her mum called up the stairs as soon as Mrs. Uchiha had walked out. Sakura legged it up to her room and pretended to be reading her book nonchalantly, as if she hadn't just spent the last half an hour listening to the most disturbing gossip she had ever heard.

"Sakura?" Her mum knocked on her door before quietly entering. She sat on the edge of Sakura's bed, as Sakura casually placed her book down. "I've just had the loveliest chat with Sakura's mother. She made me realize what a fool I was to have almost split you up with Sasuke. I understand how you're feeling; I'm acting just like my own mother. I'll make sure to talk to your father about it all."

Sakura's face instantly lit up. She hugged her mum tightly around the neck and whispered into her ear in ecstasy, "I love you, mum."

Her mum hugged her back with just as much vigor, before she got up and left the room. However, before she departed she pulled out a mobile from her back pocket and placed it lightly on top of Sakura's bed cheekily. Sakura smiled back at her in relief and as soon as her mum was out of her room, she just had to call Sasuke up and fully describe to him what had just happened in the Haruno household.

.&.

"Can you believe it?" she asked as she sat rather comfortingly on Sasuke's couch with her legs slung over his lap. He rested against the back, whilst she rested against the armrest.

He stroked lazy circles over her bare legs, reveling in there smoothness.

"My parents are actually letting me do this." She smiled to herself as Sasuke nodded, intently listening to anything she had to say.

As she was smiling to herself and thinking of all the possibilities that this had opened up for her, Sasuke casually pulled out the kit to roll up a joint from his back pocket. He spread everything out expertly over Sakura's legs.

When Sakura felt something, she looked up, alarmed but tut when she saw what he was doing. However, before he could start, she butt in and snatched the thin piece of paper from his nimble fingers.

"Let me try," she said innocently. With her tongue sticking out in concentration, she rolled the joint amateurishly. Sasuke watched intently, observing how her fingers were working. He smiled lightly when she finally finished and gave it back to him.

He held the roll-up in his hand; the first thing that he noticed was how fat it was. He simply shrugged and placed it lightly between his lips, scouring for his lighter. However, Sakura also snatched it out of his hand and lit it; like it was her own lighter and she had glamorously smoked all of her life. Sasuke watched her all the while, silently thinking in his head how beautiful she was when she helped him out like this. Her innocence in the 'illegal substances' area also fueled his appreciation of her.

Out of sheer desire, Sasuke leaned over and kissed her. She tasted the herbal smoke touch her lips but she kissed him back nonetheless. When he pulled away, she lightly breathed out, and a small trail of smoke floated around her.

It tasted foul, she knew she would never grow to like it, but the chemistry between them in those fleeting seconds was overpowering. She leaned towards him for a longer, deeper kiss and his hand, which loosely held his roll-up between his thumb and forefinger, casually climbed up her leg to rest on her thigh.

Sakura thought she knew what he was suggesting. She pulled away momentarily and bit her lip in contemplation, whilst Sasuke took the time to reach down and rest his joint in the ashtray on the carpet of his bedroom.

Before he could even continue their affectionate make-out session, she placed a light hand on his firm pectorals (he was shirtless and lazing in cargos). "I think I'm ready," she breathily whispered, a little uncertainty lacing through her voice, but her determined eyes shone up at him.

Sasuke looked momentarily shocked. He had started the day unknowing that he was about get some action for the first time in months. But he didn't want to pressure her into doing anything she wasn't 100% sure of. He had to ask for her reassurance, to which she nodded and smiled.

"I love you, Sasuke. I want to give you everything of me; I'm yours."

He smiled before pecking her lips tenderly. "I love you too, Sakura. I'll love you forever."

He lay her down on the couch, stripping off their clothes slowly. He didn't want to scare her, so he went at a tender pace. Sakura couldn't help to blush when she thought about how Sasuke could see all of her naked body, and she could see him. But it was all forgotten as she experienced one of the best afternoons she had felt, despite the pain. She was a woman.

* * *

_I can tell you now, that this is the penultimate chapter to this story!_

_Everything is ending :( I've left school for exam leave, so now i'm only going in for exams. I'm rarely going to see any of my friends and i'm moving to a different school next year for sixth form. But i haven't cried. In fact, there's some people that I never want to see again; glad that they're out of my life._

_Check out my profile for livejournal, twitter, tumblr and flickr accounts if you want more of what i have to offer (totally not in a kinky way)._


	28. Home

_Love Bite._

_Chapter 28_

_Laugh until we think we'll die_  
_Barefoot on a summer night_  
_Never could be sweeter than with you_

_ - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros_

* * *

Sakura's parents had gone away for a weekend, longing to get away from the city and make a peaceful retreat from their jobs for just a few days, which ultimately meant that Sakura and Sasuke had the house to themselves.

Sakura had awoken that morning in Sasuke's arms. It was a lazy Sunday, and she pecked his nose before lazily stretching out. Catching a fleeting glimpse of the time, she noticed they had slept in till 11am. Quietly, she chuckled; after all, it couldn't be helped if they awoke at a dangerously late time when they hardly slept the night before.

Stealthily, she got out of bed, trying not to disturb Sasuke, but failing. He awoke with a large yawn and tried to pull Sakura back into bed.

"Sasuke, it's 11. We should both get up. I'll make breakfast… or lunch? Or maybe we should just call it 'brunch'," she said, finally settling upon the most fitting word.

He hummed lazily, stretching out his arms as the duvet covers fell off his luscious, bare chest. "I'll help you," he offered, just about to get up.

"No, it's alright," she retaliated. "I'm your girlfriend; I'm supposed to be the domestic one." She smiled lightly, just then noticing that she was completely naked. Quickly, she pulled on Sasuke's t-shirt – the first thing she could find on her wooden flooring from their haste last night to get each other's clothes off. She could smell his delicious scent on the t-shirt, which reached just below the hips, not leaving much to the imagination.

As she sauntered downstairs to her kitchen, she quickly whipped up a variety of coffee, orange juice, toast and cereals. She juggled it all on a tray and was about to mount the stairs again, before something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. It was a manila envelope fallen through her letter box and lying neglected on the doormat. She placed the tray down on the stairs before prancing over and carefully picking it up. It was addressed to her and in the corner was a stamp, bearing the University of Oxford. A little of her breath was stolen from her as her fingers started to shake in anticipation. In a daze, she carried the tray and the letter back upstairs to Sasuke.

When she entered the room, she placed their breakfast on their bed, in which Sasuke immediately dove in for a piece of toast and a cup of freshly brewed coffee. He noticed Sakura staring at the envelope in her hands and intriguingly asked, "What is that?"

"It's a letter from Oxford," she said, her voice shaking with both worry and excitement.

"Well… what does it say?" Sasuke impatiently asked, sitting a bit taller at this.

"…I haven't opened it."

Sasuke sighed. "Are you going to open it?" The conversation was going in tangents. He was just as excited as she was, since Oxford had ended up being her first choice. She really, desperately wanted to get in.

"I can't," she said, her fingers void of any feeling. "Can you do it for me?" She looked up at him hopefully as she perched on the side of the bed.

He accepted and took the envelope from her shaking hands, smiling up at her for reassurance before he slid open the letter and pulled out a pristine piece of paper.

He scanned through the contents, gasping inwardly at what it said. However, Sakura couldn't interpret his reaction and feared for the worst. She screwed her eyes shut tightly when he started to read it aloud.

"'Dear Miss. Haruno,'" he started, "'Let me congratulate you on the behalf of University of Oxford! You have been selected for the admission in the course of Medicine for the autumn term of 2011.'"

As soon as he had read the first sentence, Sakura's eyes snapped open and she stared in wide eyed shock as Sasuke's lips formed the most angelic words she had received in her life. She screamed when he looked up and beamed at her.

"Oh my god! I got in! I can't believe it!" she squealed, jumping up and down on her bed, successfully spilling coffee and orange juice on her white duvet covers but not even caring. "I'm going to England, baby!"

She laughed as he pulled her down and onto his lap, kissing her feverishly in pure joy. "I'm so happy for you, Sakura," he said. However, Sakura could detect an inkling of disappointment and she pulled away from him, placing both her hands on his crossed legs, which were covered by her thin duvet.

She forced him to look straight into her eyes. "We can still manage a long-distance relationship," she whispered, hating the very words she was speaking. It was so hypocritical of her, as she knew that long-distance relationships almost always ended badly.

But what choice did they have? He was staying where he was to start his training to become the heir to his father's business, missing out on his chances of university.

He shook his head, his black, wispy hair falling across his face. "I don't want to be away from you."

She thought about this for a moment, before suggesting something that she had constantly thought about for weeks after applying to all her international universities. "Then come with me."

He looked up quickly, a shimmer of hope shining in his eyes, as he tried to search her face for any signs that she was joking. When he found none, he realized she was being wholly serious.

However, his father's business flashed in his mind. "What about the Uchiha Company?" he asked innocently. "I've got to complete my training here with my father."

A sneaky smile crept onto Sakura's face and a special glint glittered in her eyes in a _'I've-totally-thought-about-that-too' _kind of way. "I know it won't be easy, but why don't you extend and globalize Uchiha&Co. and set up an English headquarters in Oxford?"

He widened his eyes at how much thought Sakura had put into it all. But then he smiled lightly and kissed Sakura again. "I'll bring it up in the next board meeting." He winked at her before picking her up at her waist and spinning her around the room, in a celebration of, not just Sakura getting into Oxford, but also just for life in general.

.&.

"Should I pack the t-shirt or the long sleeve?" Sakura held up two pieces of clothing that she couldn't decide on whether to take to England or not. She had already accumulated six boxes and three suitcases full of her belongings which she just couldn't bear to part with.

Sasuke had been helping Sakura for the entire day and he was simply hungry and craving a cigarette, but he couldn't smoke in Sakura's bedroom. "Both," he vaguely replied, uninterested at her menial dilemma.

"Yeah, you're right. After all, I heard British Septembers can still be relatively summery, which calls for t-shirts. But when winter comes, I'll be able to wear the long-sleeve too," she babbled on, oblivious to Sasuke's boredom.

"Do you really have to pack so much?" he asked, plucking disinterestedly at some fluff on his jeans, as he sat on the edge of her bed.

"Sasuke," she sighed hopelessly, "I'm only going to university once. I want to make the most of it. And it starts with an extensive wardrobe. After all, as soon as I heard that the apartment that your parents had generously paid for came with a _mahoosive_ walk-in wardrobe, I wouldn't dare leave it half empty!"

Yes, that was right; not only had Sasuke's father set up everything in Oxford for Sasuke to own his own Uchiha&Co. offices, but in celebration of a great idea, he had paid for the apartment that Sasuke and Sakura were to live in together. AND he only got the _crème de la crème_ of all apartments!

"Be a darling and help me zip up this suitcase," she asked, as she jumped onto the top of it to squish the lid down desperately. He zipped it up quickly, before lifting her up and onto solid ground. "Phew, so glad that's finished," sighed Sakura, as she gazed around her bare room. She couldn't help but to think of all the things she was leaving behind whilst away at university. It so sickeningly nostalgic and she felt a hard, emotional lump form in the back of her throat.

Sasuke, sensing that something was wrong, asked if she was okay. At that, Sakura immediately wailed out despairing cries. He put his arms around her and cradled her, letting her cry into the nook between his neck and shoulder.

Until that moment, she hadn't felt sad about the whole ordeal. Even though she had spent the last day comforting Ino whilst she whined and cried about how her best friend was leaving her, Sakura hadn't shed a tear. It wasn't until the reality hit her at full force did she feel the need to get all sappy and emotional. "I'm going to miss everyone _so much_!" she wailed, as Sasuke patted her head awkwardly. Obviously he was uncomfortable with crying females.

Over her shoulder, he held his wrist up to quickly look at the time. "Sakura, we have a plane to catch in an hour," he said, attempting to be sympathetic.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, attempting to clean up the mascara trails. "Yeah," she said, acting strong, "I'll need some help getting all of this into the car," she said, waving her hand at all the boxes and suitcases. They were getting driven to the Uchiha building's rooftop to take a private jet to England; it was the only way Uchiha's travelled.

"Sure," he said, already picking up two suitcases in each hand to take to his car.

She breathed in deeply when he left the room, as she walked around in slow, calming circles. She looked around her once more, smiling silently to herself when she put her whole past in retrospect. A lot had happened here in eighteen years. But as she whimsically picked up her Louis Vuitton Speedy and exit her room, she was certain that she was ready to take on the world - one small step at a time, starting with Oxford…

FIN.

* * *

_1 story. 28 chapters. 131 pages on Word. 1785 paragraphs. 4621 lines. 66271 words. 304013 letters._

_Over and out._

_:'(_


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